Annual garment exports up 99%
The value of Iran’s garment exports reached over $113 million during the previous Iranian calendar year 1399 (ended on March 20) to register a 99-percent rise year on year, an official at the Ministry of Industry, Mining and Trade said.
Afsaneh Mehrabi, the director-general of the Weaving and Garment Industries Department of the ministry, put the value of exports of such products in the Iranian calendar year 1398 at $59 million, IRNA reported.
Speaking at a press conference on the sidelines of the International Exhibition of Textile Industry (Tehran Modex) on Sunday, Mehrabi noted that the production of garments and textile products in the previous year increased by 25 percent compared to the preceding year.
She also said that the production of the said commodities had increased by 20 percent in the Iranian calendar year 1398 (ended on March 19, 2020) compared to its previous year.
Mentioning the negative impacts of the U.S. sanctions and the coronavirus pandemic on the clothing markets in recent years, the official noted that the government decided to ban the import of such products in order to support domestic producers and provide them with an opportunity to improve the quality of their products and become more competitive in global markets.
She further stressed that this industry has enjoyed growth and dynamism over the last four years, saying: “holding such exhibitions in this field will present the industry’s latest achievements and can be a significant help for the industry.”
As announced by the spokesman of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA), Ruhollah Latifi, Iranian garments are exported to Iraq, Kuwait, Australia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Russia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Germany, Korea, Japan, UAE, UK, Venezuela, Ivory Coast, Italy, Turkey, Canada, Qatar, Oman, Nigeria, Switzerland, Pakistan, Georgia, Spain, and Denmark.
According to the chairman of Tehran’s Union of Garments Manufacturers and Sellers, domestic units are supplying 70-80 percent of the requirement for clothing inside the country.
“After the ban imposed on the imports of clothing, domestic units are taking all endeavors to boost the quality and quantity of their products in a way that we saw no shortage in clothing market before the new year holiday (early March),” Abolqasem Shirazi has said.
