Tehran, Iran, May 25
By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend;
Hamid Chitchian, Iranian minister of energy, and Sufian Jalil, Indonesian coordinating minister for economic affairs, held talks in Tehran where agreement was made for Iran to build 48 power plants in Indonesia.
The small-size hydroelectric power plants will be constructed by Iranian companies, Mehr news agency reported May 25.
They are going to be built in capacities of one to 10 MW within five years.
Chitchian pointed out that 11, 700 MW hydroelectric power plants are operational in Iran, indicating Iran's expertise and experience in accomplishing similar projects.
Pointing to lucrative investment opportunities in the East Asian country, he said Iran gives high priority to establishing relations with Indonesia as a Muslim country.
He said that the big Iranian and Indonesian markets can complement each other.
Jalil, for his part, said that the biggest problem in doing business with Iran is banking transactions. He hoped that the problems will be raised soon, helping boost Iran-Indonesia trade.
He also said that Indonesia could use Iranian expertise in launching gas-operated power plants.
While in Tehran, the Indonesian delegation also discussed boosting trade ties with Iran in a meeting with officials of Iran's Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines, and Agriculture.
Since 2010, Iran-Indonesia trade lowered from $2 billion to $450 million.
In April, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and his Indonesian counterpart Joko Widodo, in a meeting in Jakarta, underlined the need for further efforts to boost bilateral relations between the two Muslim countries in diverse areas.
Indonesia was a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), but it dropped out of OPEC in 2009 after a steady decline in its production due to deficient infrastructure and paucity of investment.
Edited by CN