Mohammad Nobakht on Carpet Exports

RFE/RL Iran Report: "Some industries have been hurt by the general economic downturn. Carpet exports, which are Iran’s second largest hard currency earner, earned $1 billion in 1997, down almost 45% from five years ago. Forecasts indicate earnings will be between $700-800 million in 1998. Parliamentarian Mohammad Nobakht blames the sales decline on over-production and reduced quality. Problems for the carpet industry are particularly serious because it employs approximately 2.3 million people.

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