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Speaking in an exclusive interview with Iran Daily, Mehdi Abbasi put last year’s output at between 110,000 tons and 120,000 tons, adding the figure stood at 90,000 tons in the preceding year.

He also said that Iran’s olive is known to rank first in the world in terms of taste.

Commenting on the reasons for the rise in Iran’s output in the previous year, the IOC head said although olive production is an emerging industry in the country, the area under olive cultivation has been expanded in the past few years.

“On the other hand, the greater use of science and modern technologies in the industry in recent years has had positive impacts on Iran’s olive production.”

Estimating the country’s olive output in the current year (to end on March 20, 2021), he said it is impossible to give an exact figure as the harvest season has not arrived yet.

Olive harvest season in Iran begins in late September and continues until late January.

Abbasi, however, regretted that Iran’s output would see a fall this year, compared to that of last year, given the climate fluctuations in late March and early April and the extreme cold in the winter.

During the spring this year, he added, sunshine was insufficient on many days, which has negative impacts on the olive trees’ yield.

Abbasi said it is estimated that olive is cultivated in 85,000 hectares of gardens in Iran.

He said major olive production regions in the country are located in the provinces of Zanjan (northwest Iran), Gilan (northern Iran), Qazvin (northern Iran), Fars (southern Iran), Golestan (northern Iran) and Semnan (northern Iran).

The IOC head stressed that subtropical and temperate climates are suitable for olive cultivation, describing a Mediterranean climate as the best option for growing the crop.

He said Iran has great potential for increasing its olive cultivation in light of its suitable climate if the public sector adopts appropriate policies to this end.

Abbasi regretted that Iran fails to have a significant share in the world’s olive export market, and said, “We have not put in a convincing performance in the field of branding. There are currently few brands in the country involved in olive exports, which has caused Iran to lag behind its rivals in international markets.”

“Each of the world’s major producers and their crops is famous for a certain property [or a number of them]. For instance, Spain is known as the world’s biggest olive producer. This is while Iran’s olive is known to be the world’s most delicious one. In addition, the country’s olive oil is also unrivaled in the world in terms of taste and quality.”

Iran’s olive is exported to many countries including a number of European states, he said, adding, even countries such as Italy, Spain, and the UK that are among the world’s major producers of the crop are willing to import Iranian olive for its high quality and delicious taste.

Abbasi put the per capita consumption of olive oil in Iran at solely 200 grams per annum, saying this comes as, Europe’s average stands at 11 kilograms per year and that of Greece, which ranks first in the world in this regard, at 24 kilograms yearly.

Also commenting on the health benefits of consuming olive oil, the IOC head said despite having the largest number of tobacco smokers in the world, Greece has the lowest number of deaths due to cardiovascular diseases worldwide, as the Greeks highly consume olive oil.

“Olive oil is the only of its kind that not only does not build up in the walls of arteries but also helps cleanse them. In the holy Quran, the olive has been sworn on in several instances.”

He called on the Iranian government to provide domestic olive oil production industry with further support as it helps boost employment, prevent the outflow of foreign currency resources, and, most importantly, ensures the health of the society.

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In an interview with Tasnim, Peiman Qorbani, the CBI deputy governor for economic affairs, said macroeconomic indicators illustrate an improvement in Iran’s economic conditions despite the maximum pressures that the enemies have been exerting on the country.

Calculations and assessments indicate that the downward trend in the inflation rate and the improvement in the non-oil economic growth will continue next year, he added.

The continuation of the current trend and stability of other conditions will reduce the inflation rate in the next Iranian year to around 20 percent, Qorbani said, noting that such circumstances will offer an appropriate prospect for strengthening anti-inflationary policies, a bigger drop in the inflation rate, stabilization of economy, and a structural reform of the country’s money market.

In remarks in October 2019, Iranian President’s Chief of Staff Mahmoud Vaezi said the US economic war and unprecedented sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic have failed to stop the country’s economic growth.

Iranian First Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri had also announced earlier that despite the US government’s sanctions against the country, Iran’s economy was moving toward a better and more stable situation.

The US has ratcheted up pressure on Iran since May 2018 after withdrawing from the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

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TEHRAN (Iran News) – Secretary of Iranian Auto Parts Makers Association Maziar Beyglou expressed hope that self-reliance in the manufacturing of auto parts would reach 90 percent through domestic production of required raw materials.

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Bahrami in a joint press conference with the managing director of Talfigh-e Honar Cooperatives Mr. Seyed Morteza Mortazavi highlighted major programs of the cooperative sector in the country in handicrafts industry and ways to reduce reliance on oil revenues.

Bahrami said that Iran’s sales of hand-woven carpets in the past two decades usually stood at $1.5 and over 2m carpet weavers were active in the country while the annual capacity for producing hand-woven carpets was around 6m square meters and it could earn the country $3b through exports of carpet.

He went on to say that lack of attention by the government and abundant problems for carpet-weavers caused Iran to lose its world stance and its forex revenues began to fall. He added that although Iran is full of designs and priceless treasury in diversity in designs, and over 6,000 educated people are involved in the carpet industry, exports and production of carpets are declining due to inattention and negligence.

He also criticized Iran’s Central Bank’s regulations for hand-woven carpet exporters, adding that it takes one year and exporters have to sell their forex in the NIMA system.

He went on to criticize the government for stopping the support of carpet weavers by cutting their insurance. He added that the government is not ready to pay its share of social welfare insurance and carpet weavers themselves have to pay the total money and most of them cannot afford them and leave the job.

Bahrami went on to say that in the past, the carpet industry was exempted from paying value-added tax because most of the hand-woven carpet producers from the lowest deciles of the society but today both sale and export have to pay 9 percent VAT.

He added that currently over one million people are active in the carpet industry and they can earn the country over $3b.

He said the value of hand-woven carpet last year stood at $420m but the figure has been only $30m in the first four months of the current year.

Bahrami noted that over 113,000 cooperatives for producing hand-woven carpets exist in the country and the number of weavers who are under social welfare insurance is unknown.

He admitted that the carpet industry has faced both domestic and international sanctions, adding that exports are done in rial but the raw material for weaving is bought based on free-market price.

Bahrami said that Germany, the UAE, South Africa, China, and Japan are the main destinations for Iran’s hand-woven carpets.

He reiterated that to boost the carpet industry, it needs financial facilities, adding that levying VAT on the carpet industry has increased the production cast.

Meanwhile, the CEO of Talfigh-e Honar Cooperatives Mr. Mortezavi said that most of the handicrafts in the country are produced in the houses and over 6100 workshops are active in the country and over 5,000 people are busy in the handicrafts industry.

He added that according to the statistics, the country exports one million barrel of oil per day and $6m enter into the treasury while by exporting 10,000 pieces of handicrafts, the country can earn the same amount of money.

He reiterated that over 180,000 pieces of handicrafts are produced in the country per day and each piece worth 200 to 400 euros.

Mortazavi added that the statistics show that handicrafts industry can earn 18 times more than what oil earns the country like India whose revenues from handicrafts are over billion dollars.

He said that Iran is the biggest hub of the handicrafts industry in West Asia and it can earn money equal to oil revenues in three years. Thus the country’s reliance on oil revenues will decrease by the time handicrafts production goes up.

He went on to say that currently Iran’s handicrafts are exported to European countries and Canada and soon a permanent exhibition for sales of Iranian handicrafts will be set up in Afghanistan, while the cooperative has programs to have a vast presence in Germany and Poland.

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TEHRAN (Iran News) – Iran’s petrochemical exports have increased 1.5 times over the past six years in view of the completion of a number of projects within the same time span.

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