The Tehran branch of Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism will launch a citywide campaign to promote Iran-made handicraft.
“A top objective of the ICHHTO is to promote the works of Iranian artisans and improve the quality of handicrafts,” Rajabali Khosroabadi, head of the branch was quoted as saying by ILNA.
One main objective of the campaign is to put producers and consumers in direct contact, effectively cutting out avaricious middlemen, who sell the products at inflated prices and shortchange craftsmen and women.
“As part of the campaign, exhibitions will be organized in Tehran which allows consumers to meet artisans and buy their products directly,” the official said, adding that there are also plans to sell handicrafts online via trusted web portals.
According to official reports, during the two-week Norouz holiday (March 20-April 1), handicraft bazaars across the country generated 240 billion rials ($6.9 million) in sales, nearly twice as much as the corresponding period in the previous year.
The government allocated 2 trillion rials ($56 million) to the handicraft sector during the last fiscal year that ended on March 19 in low interest loans to artisans.
At least 10 trillion rials ($280 million) are needed to jumpstart the handicraft industry, according the ICHHTO, while the country’s declared goal is to earn a billion dollars from handicraft export. In the last fiscal year the sector generated $150 million.
