TEHRAN – The 30 best stands of the 26th National Handicraft Exhibition will represent Iran in international events in other countries, the deputy director of Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicraft Organization (CHTHO) said on Sunday.

The best stands would be selected according to their sales during the exhibition, the CHTHO official, Bahman Namvar-Motlaq, explained, IRNA reported.

He said that the 20 best participants in the previous edition of the exhibition hired stands with up to 50 percent discount on fees this year. 

Over 360 participants from different parts of Iran are participating in the National Handicraft Exhibition, which is underway at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Mosalla. The 6-day event will wrap up today.

According to IRNA, from the five categories of the country’s non-oil exports, Persian rugs and handicraft ranked last in the previous Iranian calendar year (ended March 19, 2016), with 12,000 tons of exports worth some $333 million. The figure indicates a 14 percent decline in value as compared to the previous year and accounts for only 0.8 percent of Iran’s non-oil trade.