Herat exports over 20,000sq meters of carpet in 9 months

HERAT CITY (Pajhwok): The Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) says over 20,000 square meters of carpet was exported abroad from western Herat province during the last nine months.

Mohammad Rafi Rahmani, ACCI executive director for Herat province, told Pajhwok Afghan News that the carpets produced in the province were exported to Austria, England, Germany and Italy.

He said that 21,688 square meters of carpet worth $300,000 was exported to the mentioned countries from Herat.

“The export of Afghan hand-woven carpet abroad is good news for the normalization of carpet business in Herat after being affected by Covid-19 related quarantine measures”, he added.

Rahmani hoped the export volume would increase with the elimination of Covid-19 disease and opening of the country’s borders.

This comes as a number of carpet sellers in Herat say their exports fell by 80 percent this year due to emergence of Covid-19.

Ahmad, one of the carpet traders, said besides closure of the country’s borders and suspended flights, there was also no good market for the hand-weaved Afghan carpets outside the country.

“Corona affected all people this year, we have no more carpets for exports, we might have not sold carpets more than once in the past 10 months,” he said.

Mohammad Rassoul Fayeq, head of Carpet Sellers Association in Herat, also expressed concern over emergence of Covid-19 and lack of market for carpets, but hoped the market would turn better with elimination of the disease.

Mds/ma