TEHRAN: Iran will resume exporting the handmade carpets to the US this year, head of the country’s National Carpet Center Hamid Kargar said. He expressed hope that the current stagnation regarding the handmade carpet export will be over in the coming months, Iran’s Mehr news agency reported Jan. 30.
The official further said that the US businessmen have expressed interest to resume import of handmade carpet from Iran, following the removal of international sanctions as the nuclear deal came into force Jan. 16. In past years Iran’s rivals such as Pakistan and India replaced the Islamic Republic in the US market, he said.
Handicrafts and handmade carpet shared 0.7 percent of Iran’s total non-oil exports in the first eight months of current fiscal year (March 21- Nov. 21, 2015).
Iran exported $193 million worth of handicrafts and carpet in the period, 19 percent less year on year. Kargar earlier said that Iran has exported 2,620 tons of handmade carpets valued at $166 million to 80 countries in the first seven months of 2015.
The East Asian countries are the main buyers of Iranian carpets, he said, adding Iran’s handmade carpets are exported to Lebanon, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, China, Japan, France, Sweden, Italy and Germany. The National Carpet Center of Iran also said that the country has exported handmade carpets for a total of $330 million in 2014.
