Abdullah Bahrami, CEO of the Union of Hand-made Carpet Cooperatives, said: “We have the greatest designers of hand-made carpets in Iran, but all of them are immigrating to Turkey because they are not supported in Iran.”
He added: “Once, we were the largest exporter of wool and silk in the world. However, today we are importing it, and 500 tons of silk are imported annually.” We have about 60 million sheep that, if processed, would upgrade domestic wool production and the textile industry. If we invest in the processing of domestic wool, we do not need to import carpet raw materials.
He also stated: We have the best designers of hand-made carpets in Iran, but they do not receive adequate support from the government. Consequently, the specialists and designers of this sector gradually move to a place where they value the carpet industry.
Bahrami also mentioned the Central Bank’s Foreign Exchange Commitment. According to him, it had been repeatedly asked to exempt hand-made carpets from foreign exchange obligations. He declared that: “Unfortunately, this commitment is still being implemented as it was three years ago. There was no response to all our correspondences, but we are still pursuing the exemption of hand-made carpets from foreign exchange obligations.
In the end, he emphasized the importance of carpet weavers’ support. He stated that: “The income from hand-made carpets is crucial for carpet weavers because it affects affording their living costs, their social security and job security.”
