TEHRAN – Iran’s government outlined a support package to strengthen the handicrafts sector and preserve related jobs during a meeting with industry associations and entrepreneurs held on Saturday at the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts. 

The meeting, attended by Cultural Heritage Minister Seyyed Reza Salehi-Amiri and representatives of professional associations, focused on coordinating policy and addressing challenges facing the sector under current economic conditions. 

Malek Hosseini, deputy minister for entrepreneurship and employment at the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labour and Social Welfare, said businesses had seen reduced resilience due to inflation and the impact of war. “Wartime and post-war conditions have specific requirements and cannot be managed with pre-war models,” he said, calling for changes in policymaking and the use of new tools to support enterprises.

Hosseini said the government’s priority was to preserve existing jobs, adding that wage subsidies and insurance support for workers were being implemented. He said funding for the program had increased four times and would run for two months, with the capacity to cover up to 1.8 million people.

He also called on private sector groups and unions to provide structured data to support targeted policymaking and follow-up on industry demands.

Industry participants at the meeting proposed forming a joint committee with private sector representatives, expanding access to the handicrafts development fund, securing production inputs at preferential rates, and improving access to working capital. They also called for hybrid distribution networks, the creation of retail outlets across the country, and planning for entry into international markets.

Ali-Asghar Shalbafian, head of the ministry’s Investment and Economic Affairs Center, said a new package of dedicated financial facilities for handicrafts had been designed and implemented. He said 29,423 applications had been referred to banks, of which 22,000 were related directly to handicrafts.

Shalbafian said 95% of the applications were from areas outside provincial capitals, indicating a focus on rural areas and smaller cities. He said a requirement for social security insurance to access loans had been removed, easing access to finance for applicants.
He added that handicrafts workers could now register to benefit from employment support programs run by the labor ministry.

He said initiatives to support business networks and clusters had begun in four eastern and northeastern provinces and could be expanded nationwide. Financial resources had also been approved for handicrafts exports in the coming year, alongside measures to link tourism capacity to handicrafts and provide support from the National Development Fund for exporters.

Behrouz Nedaei, deputy minister for development and resources, said the government was pursuing the transfer of handicrafts licensing procedures from the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance to the Ministry of Cultural Heritage to streamline governance. He said professional associations played a key role as intermediaries between policymakers and artisans.

Nedaei said 619,000 people had been identified as working in the handicrafts sector and expressed hope that closer cooperation between the government and private sector would help address challenges.

According to official data, Iran exported $223 million worth of handicrafts in the last Iranian calendar year ending March 20. A similar amount was exported informally by travelers through suitcase trade, officials said.

AM