Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 15
By Fatih Karimov – Trend:
Iran exported over 3,000 tons of apparel worth $39 million in the first nine months of the current fiscal year (started March 20, 2017), according to the date released by the country’s customs administration.
Afghanistan, Iraq, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Oman, Azerbaijan, Kuwait, Armenia, Georgia, Yemen, Germany, Netherlands, Canada, United Kingdom, Lebanon, India, Norway, Japan, Spain and Australia were among the destinations of the country’s apparel exports.
The Islamic Republic exported 3,800 tons of apparel worth $46.2 million in the last fiscal year (ended March 2017), up 2.6 percent in volume and 3.9 percent in value when compared to the previous year.
Officials put the value of Iran’s apparel market at $11 billion.
Almost 1,500 industrial units with 30,000 employees are active in clothing sector, with 340,000 tons of producing capacity. The output currently reaches 300,000 tons of clothing items per year.
According to Iranian officials, only 10 percent of Iran’s clothing import is legal, while 90 percent of it is smuggled.
Some experts believe that the abundance of foreign brands, which flaunt cheaper price tags, has eroded the competitiveness of domestic producers, as renowned foreign brands employ strong advertisement campaigns worldwide.