Iran National Carpet Center will set up a permanent exhibition of exquisite Iranian handmade carpets in Moscow to meet the growing demand for carpets in the Russian market, INCC director announced on Saturday.
Morteza Faraji, heading a delegation of carpet traders, evaluated talks with Russian officials of Moscow and Saint Petersburg chambers of commerce and industry as positive, and voiced Iran's readiness to open a trade center in Russia to supply Iranian-made products.
IRIB quoted Faraji as saying that INCC will support the private sector to take part in three international carpet shows in Moscow and Saint Petersburg by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21, 2010).
Iran regards Russia as a new target market for its hand-woven carpets. "This year Iran intends to focus on the Russian market for its hand-woven carpets," he told IRNA in April.
Faraji said that the country plans to expand carpet exports to Russia through advertising, holding festivals and dispatching commercial delegations.
"Although various carpet exporting countries have active presence in the Russian markets, there is still a growing demand for Iranian brands," he added.
He said Russians greatly welcomed Persian hand-woven carpets in the 20th Furniture and Decoration Exhibition held in December 2008 in Moscow.
Russia is Iran's seventh-largest trade partner, and Russian-Iranian trade turnover was $3.2 billion in 2008. Russia buys about 5 percent of Iran's exports, mainly foodstuffs, and supplies steel and nonferrous metals, wood and machinery to Iran, according to Russian officials.