TEHRAN - The statistics of Iran’s textile and clothing industry shows that investments made in this field grew by 44.8 percent in the previous Iranian calendar year (ended on March 20), the spokesman of the Industry, Mining, and Trade Ministry said.

Omid Ghalibaf said the increase in investment in this industry is unprecedented since the overall rate of investment in the country is currently negative, IRNA reported.

“This jump in investment is due to the positive outlook for the future of this industry, and the export statistics of the textile and clothing industries, which showed a growth of 5.9 percent in the previous year,” Ghalibaf said.

According to the official, the exports of clothing and textile products in the first two months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-May 21) increased by 10 percent in terms of weight and the imports of such products also increased by 35 percent.

The textile industry in Iran has a long history and is one of the most important sectors for employment.

This industry has a high employment potential, and the amount of foreign currency investment to create a job in the textile industry is very low compared to some industries such as automotive.

But this sector has faced problems in recent years and it is very important to remove them.

In a recent interview conducted by IRIB, a board member of Association of Iran Textile Industries announced the closure of 7,000 production units in the country's textile industry.

Abbas Sarsharzadeh said: “The main reason for the distance of the textile industry from the set goals should be sought in the lack of planning for this industry by governments of different periods and incorrect policies, which led to inappropriate investment, disproportionate industrial capacities created along the industry chain, machine wear, and improper tariff system.”

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