TEHRAN – Iran exported $237 million of handicrafts in the past Iranian calendar year, which ended on March 20, IRNA quoted the head of Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts Organization as saying.

The country fetched over $8 billion in tourism revenues last year, CHTHO Director Zahra Ahmadipour added in an address to a provincial meeting in Shiraz on April 19. 

Elsewhere in her remarks, she expressed satisfaction over the domestic sales of handicrafts in marketplaces which had been set up during Noruz, the new Iranian year holidays.

Ahmadipour who doubles as vice president announced such marketplaces earned 450 billion rials (some $12m), while saying that exports and domestic sales of handicrafts are projected to increase.

Exports of handicrafts have been on the rise over the past three years, witnessing an overall 59 percent hike, the CHTHO announced in January. Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, and Germany are the main importers of Iranian handicrafts.

Over the past couple of years, dozens of Iranian handicrafts have been honored with the UNESCO Seal of Excellence. In 2010, a total of 65 crafts on various themes including enamel, tile, metalwork, leatherwork, wood carving received the privilege.

PHOTO: Photo shows a collection of Iranian potteries that are meticulously inlaid with enamel

AFM/MG