TEHRAN - Handicrafts exports from Markazi province reached $46,400 during the first nine months the current Iranian calendar year (started March 21, 2019), compared with $36,000 in the same period last year.

“As of beginning of the year, handicrafts worth over 46,400 dollars, have been exported from Markazi province to overseas destinations,” Qassem Kazemi, a provincial tourism official said on Saturday, ISNA reported.

Enameled metalworks, Giveh shoes (a kind of traditional footwear), wooden statues, embossed decorations, potteries and marquetry pieces were among handicrafts, which were exported to England, Germany, France, Italy, Greece, Iraq, Turkey, India, and Canada, the official explained.

Earlier this month, the Iranian parliament (Majlis) approved a bill to exempt craftspeople and handicraft producers from paying value-added tax (VAT). However, the law is needed to be endorsed by the Guardian Council to take effect.

Handicraft exports from Iran reached $146 million since the beginning of the current Iranian calendar year, deputy tourism minister Pouya Mahmoudian said on December 31, 2019. “Iraq and Persian Gulf littoral countries are among the main target markets for Iranian handicrafts,” she added.

AFM/MG