TEHRAN – The International Trade Fair for Clothing, Fashion, Accessories, Design, and Affiliated Industries (Tehran Modex) is scheduled to be held at Shahr-e-Aftab International Exhibition Center during October 12-15, IRNA reported.

According to the Chairman of Iran’s Union of Garments Manufacturers and Sellers Abolqasem Shirazi, over 100 production units active in the textile and clothing industry are going to participate in the mentioned exhibition.

“By holding this exhibition, the export capacities and potentials of medium-sized units will also be introduced in order to support domestic producers,” the official said.

Shirazi noted that in recent years, with the ban on the import of clothing and the battle against the smuggling of such products, domestic manufacturers in this industry had a good presence in both domestic and export markets.

According to him the complete chain of the textile industry including design, production, and raw materials are present in this exhibition.

“This exhibition can be a platform to introduce designers and manufacturers to each other to cooperated for producing cloths with Iranian identity,” he added.

He emphasized that the government can organize and promote the clothing exports in the near future, adding: “The exports of Iranian garments to the world markets are scattered which can become more focused and expand rapidly to more markets in the future.”

Referring to the export of some clothing products to European countries, including Germany, he said: “Iraq, Turkey, Afghanistan, and Armenia as neighboring countries are other buyers of Iranian clothing.”

Shirazi stressed the fact that along with the export of garments, Iranian culture is also introduced to the world, saying: "We have no shortage to supply the domestic market along with exports, and production units will continue to operate at full capacity."

The official had earlier said that domestic units are supplying 70-80 percent of the requirement for clothing inside the country.

“After the ban imposed on the imports of clothing, domestic units are taking all endeavors to boost the quality and quantity of their products in a way that we saw no shortage in clothing market before the new year holiday (early March),” he said in early July.

The value of Iran’s garment exports reached over $113 million during the previous Iranian calendar year 1399 (ended on March 20) to register a 99-percent rise year on year, according to Afsaneh Mehrabi, the director-general of the Weaving and Garment Industries Department of the Ministry of Industry, Mining and Trade,

Iran exported $59 million worth of the mentioned products in the Iranian calendar year 1398 (ended in March 2019).

EF/MA