Precious stones make up 35% of handicraft exports
Dr. Abdolhamid Hajipour, Technical and Economic Deputy of Iran Handicrafts Organization added: Last year we had about 80 million dollars in handicraft exports and this figure during the first four months of this year was 51 million and 250 thousand dollars, which is a 167 percent increase over the same period last year. Previous shows.
He continued: We hope that the export of handicrafts will be accompanied by a growth of 200% by the end of the year and will increase to $ 240 million.
He said that the main export of handicrafts was allocated to processed products, adding that a small part of this export was done in unprocessed form, which is mostly allocated to precious stones.
Hajipour said that $ 150 worth of handicrafts and carpets are exported annually from the country in the form of luggage and goods with passengers. The lack of information about the law and regulations, as well as the lack of official borders for trade in goods, led to the smuggling of handicrafts from It has become a country and of course we are aware of the existence of some smugglers, but since the time for doing so has passed, we do not have a credible evidence and we cannot prevent them from continuing their work.
He stated that the customs duties on the export of handicrafts are between 3 and 170 percent and said: This customs profit is such that the export is done easily and there is no desire to smuggle products.
He continued: the lowest tariff is related to the export of pottery and ceramics and the highest is related to the substrate.
The technical and economic deputy of the Handicrafts Organization, stating that we do not have statistics on official imports of handicrafts into the country, said: The import of these products is mostly smuggled from India and China.
He stated that the average import tariffs for handicraft products are 40% and said: Most handicraft products are smuggled into the country from Kish to Qeshm. Imports of handicrafts should not be created and domestic products should be able to compete with foreign products.
He said that part of the work of Chinese handicraft products is done manually and the other part is done by machine, he said: the country’s craftsmen should also use this method and 10 to 20 percent of the work is done by hand and the rest by machine To reduce the cost of products and allow competition with other countries.
He continued: Currently, the cost price of some products such as enamel or metal goods made in China is lower than the cost price in Iran, and even the selling price of some metal products, leather and wood is lower than the domestic cost price.
Regarding the export of precious stones, he told the ISNA reporter: about 35% of the export of handicrafts is allocated to precious stones.
Hajipour, referring to the training of decorative stone craftsmen in 10 provinces of the country in order to develop and prosper the market of these products, said: In this way, training on precious stones will be done by these trainers to other craftsmen.
In the end, referring to the action of the private sector to set up a gemstone market, he said: We will support groups that have the necessary capabilities to develop the export and processing of stone and solve the problems of domestic and foreign markets.