Iran: Handicrafts Exports Hit $580m

A total of $580 million worth of handicrafts were exported from Iran in the last fiscal year (March 2018-19).
According to Ali Asghar Mounesan, caretaker of the newly-formed Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism, exports through official customs terminals stood at $281 million while foreign tourists bought $300 million worth of Iranian handicrafts and exported them in the form of suitcase trade, ISNA reported. 
According to Farzad Ojani, the deputy head of former Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization of Iran for export affairs, Germany, Turkey, Iraq and Afghanistan were the main export destinations for Iranian handicrafts.
The exported handicrafts included traditional jewelry, rugs and other fabric floorings, khatam (a kind of marquetry), enamelwork, glasswork and wood carvings. 
Handicraft exports in the fiscal 2017-18, according to Ojani, stood at $280 million.