TEHRAN On the occasion of Ten-Day Dawn marking the 20th victory anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, seven specialized export-oriented fairs opened here on Tuesday in Tehran. Commerce Minister Mohammad Shariatmadari along with officials from the Export Promotion Center of Iran (EPCI), producers and exporters attended the opening ceremony held at Tehran's permanent trade fair ground. Deputy Commerce Minister and Head of the EPCI Mojtaba Khosrotaj said the main audiences of these fairs are foreign purchasers who should be attracted to the fairs through sound programming.

He said if the fairs are held at international level, foreign customers will have more motives to participate in the exhibitions. Despite capabilities of Iranian producers and high quality, Iranian exporters did not have a tangible presence on world marketst, said Khosrow Taj. He cited different rates for hard currency, inefficiency of export promotion departments, and unfamiliarity of exporters to rules and regulations of international trade as main hindrances to the expansion of non-oil exports.

Some 73 shoes and leader companies, 106 furniture and decoration companies, 110 lamp producing companies, 73 producers of home appliances, 67 companies producing detergent and sanitary products and 85 clothes and textile producers have put on display their products in the five-day specialized trade fairs, he said. (IRNA)