The Iranian Carpet Industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

The Iranian Carpet Industry - Essay Example Therefore, all of these factors are interconnect in a very unique manner. It is also important to know the overall position of Persian rugs in the world in general and Europe (as it the major importer of Persian rugs) in specific. This also mentions the threats (in the form of international competitors) that Iran has to face. The present situation analysis of the Iranian carpet industry is given, as well as future investigation of what needs to be done to revive the industry as well as the pros and cons of each factor are provided. According to the Iranian (March 04, 1998), "There are a number of carpets manufacturing countries in the world, and it is a very volatile market. In 1980 Iran captured 40% of the market. In 1985, with political difficulties at home, Iran had only a 16% share, with India taking the lead. In 1992 Iran maintained 28.6% of the market. If Iranian production falls, the slack will be taken up by other nations. Particularly threatening are hand woven carpets from China. While Persian carpets still carry a mystique, the underutilized labour potential of China, India and Pakistan could over whelm Iranian products. Europe is the largest single market for carpets, importing about 1.2 billion dollars of rugs, with some 62% from Iran. The current embargo prevents an accurate assessment of how many Iranian carpets are imported into the United States, buy some rug dealers continue to sell new Iranian carpets. Many Iranian firms based both in Iran and Europe offer to ship Iranian rugs to America wit h false tags that give a different country of origin. Some Iranian rugs are imported in to the United States from Canada. Most American dealers, unwilling to risk their businesses, rely upon Chinese or Turkish made hand rugs. 3. The Present Situation of the Persian Carpet Industry As mentioned above competitors have taken over the carpet industry. According to an e newspaper, Iran Mania (17th June, 2005), Pakistan has taken over much of the market share by weaving "Persian carpets" in their country and selling them under the name of famous Iranian brands, such as, Haris, Afshar, Kashan, Kerman etc. At the time of the Iranian revolution, the government shunned the carpet industry. Carpet production in many areas was halted and was discouraged in other regions of the country. However, the government quickly came to realize the economic benefits of the industry. Upon comprehension, the government established schemes and incorporated carpet weaving into a number of regional developmental schemes. Another main target of the carpet industry is to raise the standard of living of the people. One of the main problems that the Iranian government has to face is the influx of the population in to the urban areas of the country from the rural (Lloyd 1993) Therefore, in order to handle the growth in population; the Iranian government transformed itself from an agricultural society to an urban one. According to the news magazine Iran Mania (17th June, 2005) in the future, unless the carpet weavers of Iran learn to work in an organized