A senior Iranian business official says the Islamic Republic has exported Persian carpets to 70 countries despite the obstacles that the US-engineered sanctions on Iran have created.
Mohammad Baqer Aqa-Alikhani, the chairman of Irans National Carpet Center, said on Wednesday, Forty-five percent of Irans carpet is exported to Asian countries, 43 percent to European countries, and three percent to other countries.
He added that the exports reached USD400 million in the first eleven months of the current Iranian calendar year (started March 20, 2012).
Aqa-Alikhani said although some of the Iranian markets were faced with difficulties due to the sanctions, the Islamic Republic could tackle those problems through taking effective measures for creating new markets.
The Iranian official further pointed out that China and Brazil were among the new markets of Iranian carpet and Tehran is also studying the markets of South Africa and Vietnam.
Eight million people, who constitute 10 percent of Irans population, are active in the field of carpet industry, Aqa-Alikhani stated.
Experts attribute the increasingly lucrative market for Persian carpet worldwide to their quality, color and design.