TEHRAN - Iran’s first International Exhibition of Fabric and Related Industries (Fabric Fair 2023) is going to be opened at Tehran’s Shahr-e-Aftab International Exhibition Center on Saturday, IRNA reported.

Fabric Fair 2023 will be held in a space of 10,000 square meters with the presence of more than 90 domestic and foreign manufacturers and suppliers of fabrics active in various fields.

Several foreign trade delegations are also expected to visit the four-day event.

Fabric production units from different provinces such as Tehran, Isfahan, Yazd, Alborz, Kashan, and other cities are going to showcase their latest products and designs in this exhibition.

The annual turnover of Iran’s clothing market is about nine billion dollars, of which the share of the domestic sector is only about 30 percent, and the remaining 70 percent of this market is in the hands of importers who mainly smuggle clothes into the country.

According to official statistics, the consumption of fabric in the country is between 580,000 and 680,000 tons. Currently, 100,000 trade units, 1,000 production units, and 200,000 distribution units are active in the clothing industry, which have created more than one million jobs.

In late August, the director general of the Clothing and Textile Office of the Iranian Ministry of Industry, Mining, and Trade has said that investment in the country’s textile industry increased by 30 percent in the previous Iranian calendar year (ended on March 20) in comparison to the preceding year.

Mohsen Gorji made the remarks in a press conference held to promote the Fabric Fair 2023.

Gorji said more than $450 million worth of textile machinery and equipment were imported into the country in the previous year.

“We are trying to achieve eight percent growth, on average, in the production sector,” he said.

According to the official, the country’s textile and clothing industry registered a 17.3 percent growth in the previous Iranian year and had the highest growth rate among other industrial sectors.

He further stated that there are some concerns regarding the supply of raw materials for the textile industry that should be taken into account by the government.

Most of the problems in the mentioned area are due to the lack of foreign currency allocation for the importers of such materials, he noted.

Gorji stated that 80 percent of the fabric needed in the country is produced domestically, saying: “The country’s textile industry has grown significantly in terms of quality and design, but sometimes our fabrics are sold in the market under the name of Turkish fabrics.”

EF/MA