Furniture Imports Outstrip Exports

Iran imports around $141 million worth of furniture every year while exports are minimal, said the deputy minister of industries, mining and trade. Ali Yazdani made the statement at the Ninth International Conference on World Trade in Furniture, Design, Decoration Art and Related Industries, otherwise known as Deco 2016. The conference was held on Wednesday. Unofficial statistics suggest that Iran’s furniture exports stand at $25 million annually. “More than 46,000 production units are operating across Iran, accounting for 8% of all the jobs in the industrial sector. There are over 10,500 sales outlets in the furniture business employing nearly 86,000 people,” IRNA quoted Yazdani as saying. Akbar Torkan, the head of the Supreme Council of Iran’s Free Trade, Industrial and Special Economic Zones, who was also present at the conference, put the size of the domestic market for furniture and decoration at $5 billion and $3 billion respectively. “The furniture and decoration industries generate 2% of Iran’s gross domestic product and create more jobs compared with other industries such as petrochemicals, energy and steel. The domestic market is on the verge of saturation and we need to embark on exports,” ILNA quoted the official as saying.