IRNA - Iran's vice president for women and family affairs emphasized encouraging people to wear traditional costumes, saying, policies required to launch an initiative to promote domestic costumes will be followed soon.

Masoumeh Ebtekar said on Saturday Iran seeks to promote ethnic costumes to revive the identity of various ethnic groups in the country.

She went on to say that arrays of specialized meetings have taken place, macro policies have been devised and there is a national consensus on the widespread use of domestic costumes.

The initiative is still in its preliminary stages, Ebtekar said.

Encouraging manufactures to make domestic costumes and persuading people to wear these clothes, especially in the workplace, are among the plans in the process, she said.

She also referred to government plans to promote handicrafts, saying the government support is specifically focused on skill development and the provision of specialized training.

70 percent of the country's handicrafts are made by women and training to improve women's knowledge and skills is underway, she said.