Currently, 9,818 industrial units are active in Iran’s textile and apparel industries, constituting 11 per cent of all industrial entities in the country. These units have created more than 2,90,000 direct jobs, accounting for 13 per cent of all industrial jobs in Iran.

Clothing’s share was 4.5 per cent in Iranian families’ spending in fiscal 2015-16. Iran’s per capita apparel consumption is lower than the global average. With the aim of limiting imports, boosting domestic production and making the price of Iranian clothing more competitive, the country is now planning to set up a new apparel industrial town. Some 45 hectares of land have been bought for the new apparel industrial park. The hope is that such an apparel industrial park will be highly beneficial as it will lead to transfer of know-how, increase in quality and lowered production costs.

The country has mandated foreign representatives, branches and distributors of apparel in Iran who seek business licenses to produce goods worth 20 per cent of their import value inside Iran and to export at least 50 per cent of this domestic production. The initiative is aimed at increasing domestic production, creating jobs and reviving Iran’s aging apparel industry.