Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 13
By Fatih Karimov- Trend:
The 12th Iran Petrochemical Forum (IPF 2015) aimed at presenting the investment opportunities in the country's petrochemical industry in the post-sanctions period inaugurated in Tehran on Dec. 13.
Some 97 foreign companies from 25 countries as well as 368 Iranian firms are participating in the two-day event, the oil ministry's SHANA news agency reported.
Representatives from domestic and foreign firms including the US, Australia, Azerbaijan, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands and Russia are taking part in the event, according to Mohammad Hassan Peyvandi, deputy head of the National Iranian Petrochemical Company.
Senior Iranian officials including first vice-president Eshaq Jahangiri, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh are scheduled to deliver speech in the conference.
Iran expects the sanctions to be lifted at the first of coming year, as it is adhering to the terms of a July nuclear deal clinched between Tehran and the World's six major powers.
Iran's petrochemical output hit 44.4 million tons in the past Iranian fiscal year (ended on March 20), 10 percent more year-on-year.
The country's actual production capacity is around 60 million tons, but the shortage of natural gas as feedstock, old production units, and the problem of sanctions, which has dropped exports, have caused petrochemical complexes to work at lower capacities.
Tehran hopes to use the IPF 2015 to attract foreign investors for its post-sanctions projects and plans aimed at boosting the petrochemical output capacity to over 138 million tons per year in 2020 and eventually to 180 million tons per year by 2025 with an investment of over $80 billion.