Two million people engaged in carpet industry in Iran

Two million people engaged in carpet industry in Iran

Zahedan, March 11, IRNA

Iran-Handmade Carpets
Deputy Commerce Minister Morteza Faraji said on Tuesday that there are 2 million people engaged in producing hand-woven carpets in Iran.

Faraji who is also the chief of Iran's National Carpet Center told IRNA that five million square meters of hand-woven carpets are produced in the country annually.

Moreover, the hand-woven carpets valued at dlrs 450 million have been exported last year and the figure is predicted to be the same during the current year, Faraji said.

He added that a maximum loan of one billion rials would be granted to carpet producers to expand carpet industry.

Holding provincial carpet fairs, producing movies about Persian carpets and showing advertisements on foreign TV channels are among the important measures taken so far by Iran's National Carpet Center to introduce Iranian hand-woven carpets and encourage foreign countries to buy them, Faraji said.

1.98 Trillion Rials For Carpet Industry

1.98 Trillion Rials For Carpet Industry
TEHRAN, March 11--Loans worth about 1.98 trillion rials have been allocated for projects with quick returns as well creating jobs in the hand-woven carpet industry, disclosed Deputy Commerce Minister for economic development Mehdi Ghazanfari.He further stated that about 75 billion rials have been earmarked for extending technical assistance to set up carpet weaving factories.He said that so far the head offices of banks are considering loan applications for establishing 78 carpet weaving factories and 251 raw material production units.The official said that 35,000 carpet weavers will be covered by insurance.Increasing export incentives from three to five percent, undertaking research on dye and design are among the other measures to promote the carpet industry, he noted.Ghazanfari added that efforts have been made to maintain and develop current markets through proper publicity campaign as well as to introduce Iranian rugs on leading TV channels.He added that the number of ships increased from 114 to 117 and agreements signed for the purchase of 33 container and cargo ships.The official added that about 5,115,047 tons of commodities were loaded for transporting through sea during the first nine months of the year to March 2007, up by 21 percent compared to the corresponding figure for the preceding year.Ghazanfari said that regular shipping lines have been expanded from the southern ports to Asian and European countries while weekly services are operating from Asia to Europe.

Iran’s Carpet Museum Faces Storage Crisis

Carpet Storage Facilities Inadequate
Director of Iran’s Carpet Museum has expressed concern about the conditions in which carpet are stored in the museum’s repository.Parviz Eskandarpour Khorrami told ISNA that poor storage facilities, including restricted space, will damage the carpets in the long run.“Present storage area of the museum is so limited that even nine carpets are stacked on top of each other. This will eventually damages the rugs,“ he said, calling for allocating more space for storing valuable carpets in the museum.He added that some carpets that have been maintained in limited storage places more than the normal period are being damaged by humidity. Referring to the transfer of carpets, he said that they are transported several times a year to international expositions and this has also speeded up the destruction process.Asked whether international politics have an impact on cultural relations, the official said although political relations can negatively influence cultural ties, international carpet expositions can serve as the best means to forge links among nations.Commenting on exhibiting carpets in the museum, he said that some old carpets should be carefully preserved. “Lighting system for carpets is appropriate. While advanced technologies are presented to market every year, our old Persian carpets are strong enough to resist lighting and not lose their luminosity and transparency,“ he said.