BUSHEHR, Assalouyeh – Iran’s National Petrochemical Company (NPC) director for production control, Ali-Mohammad Bossaqzadeh, in an exclusive interview with the Tehran Times elucidated Iranian petrochemical companies’ inclinations and needs to cooperate with foreigners.

“Shareholders of some projects defined by Iranian petrochemical companies have not been designated yet and this can be a good opportunity for foreigners to apply for purchasing the offered shares,” he said. 
“The ground is set for overseas investors to possess even up to 100 percent of the stakes of the defined projects,” he said, “However, as experience says and according to previously made contracts, foreigners are inclined to make joint ventures and they did so in Arya Sasol Polymer Company as well as Mehr Petrochemical Company and Razi Petrochemical Company.” 
“Some 50 percent of Arya Sasol’s shares are purchased by foreigners while the figure stands at 60 percent in Mehr and at 95 percent in Razi,” he explained. 
Clarifying the specific petrochemical fields poised to attract foreign investments, Bossaqzadeh continued that “olefin and NGLs (Natural Gas Liquids) projects are available for foreign investors to make joint ventures with Iranian petrochemical companies”. 
“Amir Kabir Petrochemical Company, Marun Petrochemical Company and Persian Gulf Petrochemical Company are conducting negotiations with foreigners to implement their projects in form of joint ventures,” he added, “Some of these projects are valued at more than $4 billion.”
Furthermore, referring to the pivotal role that foreign banks play in backing foreign investments in Iranian petrochemical projects, the NPC official called for the international banks to improve their ties with the Islamic country to facilitate foreign investments, as they did so before for supporting the projects in the special economic zone of Imam Khomeini Port in south of Iran. 
As Marzieh Shahdaie, the managing director of NPC, announced in early April, negotiations are underway with several foreign companies over their plans for purchasing our petrochemical products as well as their cooperation in updating the industry noting that there are a number of projects that are not yet undertaken by any investors.
According to her, 14 projects for development of petrochemical sector are scheduled to get off the ground in the current Iranian calendar year, which began on March 20.
By implementing the mentioned projects, Shahdaie said, the capacity of petrochemical output would be increased by about 6 to 7 million tons.
Completion of 55 unfinished petrochemical projects is also among the priorities of the NPC in the current Iranian year, she added.
Developing Mahshahr Petrochemical Special Economic Zone in southwestern Khuzestan Province, and setting up a new petrochemical complex in the port city of Assalouyeh, southern Bushehr Province, are among the upcoming plans of NPC, outlined by Shahdaie. 

HJ/MA