There is no control over the country’s clothing imports – Mehr news agency Iran and world’s news

According to Mehr reporter, the press conference of the first specialized clothing event in the city of Najaf, Iraq, was held yesterday evening, Saturday, July 10, with the presence of Reza Chegini, the secretary of the event, and Morteza Hedayati, the manager of the Iran Business Center in Najaf.

Morteza Hedayati, director of the Iran Trade Center in Najaf, said: During the administration of Mr. Raisi, the government had many plans to develop exports to other countries, and these plans were carried out through consultants. But since the government cannot bear the expenses of the consultants, Iran’s business centers were established in different countries as a strong arm in different fields. The commercial center of Najaf is operating in the southern region of Iraq.

He continued: In the commercial center of Iran in Najaf, we examined several issues, and the clothing sector was one of the sectors that has the best structure in terms of foreign exchange. In the research, we found out that in 2022, the Turkish government exported clothes to Iraq worth one and a half billion dollars. At the same time, Iran exported 38 million dollars worth of clothing to Iraq in various categories, including bags, shoes, clothes, accessories, and raw materials. Looking at these statistics in general, we realize how weak we are in this field and we see this weakness in production and marketing that unfortunately we acted in the worst possible way and even our actions ended in holding several low-quality and unsuccessful exhibitions.

The director of the Iranian trade center in Najaf said: “One of Iraq’s laws is that the goods that enter the country cannot leave the country anymore, and this causes the Iranian parties to lose.” We saw that one of the producers had lost nearly one billion tomans due to this law. In the Najaf clothing event, we are going to keep the goods of Iranian producers on loan and sell them so that the producer does not suffer any loss.

He added: We have 1,200 kilometers of common border with Iraq, while we only see a few active borders with this country. The Iraqi market is a special market for us and it has the capacity to earn up to one billion dollars for the country, which unfortunately has not happened so far.

Hedayati said: We have not been able to use the capacity of the clothing union in the country; Because we don’t have a guardian in this field and the clothing sector in the country remains like an ostrich that we don’t know which institution is in charge of it, and on the other hand, brokers prevent progress in this field, because the interests of dignity are at risk. The clothing sector in our country has such a suitable capacity that we can compete with the best brands in the world, but unfortunately we have not been able to create suitable conditions for this sector in the country.

He continued: Iranians could not establish good interaction and communication with Iraqis, and the main problem is with Iranian producers. Sometimes, Iranian producers can’t properly introduce the country’s clothing to Iraqis with wrong behaviors, so that finally a proper interaction between dignity is established. In one case, we saw that an Iranian manufacturer had sent a box of stones to the Iraqi side as a custom item. In another case, we saw that the Iranian manufacturer, because he did not have enough time to prepare custom shoes for the Iraqi side, put the soles of the shoes in the box so that the Iraqi side could complete the product himself. With these interpretations, how do you think the Iraqi side can trust the Iranian producer? Unfortunately, Iranian businessmen are not aware of the most detailed commercial literature.

The director of the Iran Trade Center in Najaf said: The work of the center is to provide the basis for the entry of Iranian goods into the export committed countries. Among the center’s actions, the first complaints are related to the clothing sector. However, entering Turkey’s one and a half billion dollar clothing market is playing with fire and should be handled in such a way that the Iraqi buyer prefers Iran to Turkey. So far, we have not had any specialized clothing event in Iraq, and if we hold this event in Iraq, it will be very effective in terms of job creation in Iran. We will see successes in the field of export and foreign exchange. We started our activities in Najaf city.

Hedayati said: Some of the clothing designers in Turkey are Iranian, and those who praise Turkish clothing are based on Iranian designs, and they sell designs of dignity to Turkey.

He added: Iran’s commercial center in Najaf is the endowment of Hazrat Masoumeh, which we use for divorce prevention measures. Also, we launched a system called Madaen and through this system we have provided digital sales platforms. Also, in the area of ​​Muharram clothing, those who work in the area of ​​Muharram and Arbaeen can be present in this system.

The manager of the Iranian commercial center in Najaf said: We don’t know who is the godfather of the country’s clothing sector? Everyone takes action. There is no supervision on the import of clothes to the country. How can we expect this field to be organized when it does not have a trustee? A non-expert becomes responsible for this field. Unfortunately, the country suffers from non-expert appointments. For example, Trade Development Organization, which is considered the most important organization of the country and the most important business sector of the country, has not had a head for several months. All these things are painful and you have to think of a solution for it.

Holding a permanent exhibition in the city of Karbala

Reza Chegini, the secretary of the first specialized clothing event in Najaf, Iraq, said: “In the discussion of clothes and clothing, we conducted many investigations and came to the conclusion that there are many problems with clothing.” In this regard, we had various meetings, and of course the officials complained about the same situation, but it is strange that I do not know why they do not reach this synergy with each other to solve the problems of the clothing sector together.

He added: We consulted with the Iraqi ambassador in Iran and he welcomed our plan to hold a clothing event in Najaf and even suggested that we have a permanent exhibition in the city of Karbala. We will hold a clothing fair in Najaf.

The secretary of the first specialized clothing event in Najaf – Iraq said: In June, we announced the call and one hundred people responded to this call and finally 30 manufacturers were accepted to participate in this event. The first specialized clothing event in Najaf – Iraq will be held from July 20 to 25 in Najaf. In the continuation of our activities, we are going to organize similar events in neighboring countries.

Chegini said: We talked with the Iranian ambassador in Iraq so that there would be no problem in the security issue, and somehow it was decided to ensure the safety of the producers present in this event. To realize this, it has been coordinated with the Iraqi police to be present at the event.

In the end, he said: “Unfortunately, the field of clothing has been given to those who do not have the necessary expertise and commitment, which, of course, is the same as other fields of economy and livelihood.” We previously announced our plan and presented our proposals to the authorities, but all of them remained on the table and we decided to enter this field ourselves. The problems of Iraq and its limitations are many. For this reason, no one enters this field.