Carpet exports earn Iran $300m

Tehran Times, Iran
Jan 28 2008

Carpet exports earn Iran $300m
Tehran Times Economic Desk

TEHRAN — The director of the Iran Carpet Company (ICC) announced
here on Sunday that the country’s carpet exports during the current
Iranian calendar year (began March 21, 2207) surpassed $300 million.

Jallaleddin Bassam called Iran the heart of the world’s carpet
industry, saying that Iran’s hand-woven carpets are second to none
across the globe in terms of quality, color and design.

According to the World Trade Organization (WTO), Iran’s share of the
$1.31 billion global carpet trade stood at $436.698 million in 2006.

Iran is followed by India, which produced $271 million worth of
hand-woven carpets in 2006, Pakistan ($239 million), and China ($115
million), the official added.

The world’s largest carpet was woven in Iran, a 5,625.15-square-meter
masterpiece that was commissioned for the Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan al
Nahyan Mosque in Abu Dhabi, the official noted.

It took weavers two years to make the 2.2-billion-knot carpet, he
said, adding that the carpet is not only noted for its size, but for
its trapezoid shape containing one concave and one convex side.

Iranian artist Ali Khaliqi designed the carpet over the course eight
months.

Parliament recently passed a bill, according to which prizes will be
presented to leading carpet exporters in order to give a boost to the
country’s hand-woven carpet industry.

The official said that Iran has received orders from Oman for four
carpets.

The commission to weave a 70-square-meter carpet for the Armenian
Presidential Palace was completed in six months and five days, he
added.

Although carpet weaving is now mostly mechanized, traditional
hand-woven carpets are still found across the country and priced
higher than their machine-made counterparts.

Carpet-weaving is undoubtedly one of the most distinguished
manifestations of Persian culture and art and dates back to ancient
Persia