Tehran, Iran, May 1
By Kamyar Eghbalnejad – Trend:
An Iranian deputy industry and mines minister said the country’s apparel industry has an annual turnover of $12 billion.
Total annual turnover of Iran’s clothing industry stands at $12 billion, Sadeq Najafi said on May 1, IRNA reported.
He added, that for this reason, the country’s public and private sectors are required to cooperate with each other and implement a development plan for domestic production.
The plan can help stop the flow of contraband clothes to the country, Najafi said.
He added that the turnover is expected to rise to $25 billion by 2025.
Garment manufacturing facilities in Iran are outdated due to inability to import the latest equipment because of different reasons, including lack of financial resources and years of anti-Tehran sanctions imposed on Iranian industries over its nuclear program.
Last year, Industries, Mining and Trade Minister Mohammad Shariatmadari and the head of Planning and Budget Organization, Mohammad Baqer Nobakht signed a memorandum of understanding as an initiative to create more jobs in this field and promote rural employment under the framework of “apparel production in rural regions”.
Mojtaba Khosrotaj, the head of Trade Promotion Organization of Iran, earlier said that worth of $1 billion of clothing items was smuggled into the country over the last fiscal year which ended on March 21.
He further added that the value of the legally imported garment into the country over the last year stood at $59 million.