TEHRAN- The 13th edition of Iran Petrochemical Forum (IPF) will play host to 101 participants, representing 74 foreign companies from 18 countries.

With the motto of “Bringing the World of Petrochemicals Together” the two-day event will open in Tehran on April 22, Farnaz Alavi, the manager of event, announced in a press conference on Wednesday. 

Alavi, who is the director for planning and development in the National Petrochemical Company (NPC), went on to say that the foreign participants will be from European and Asian countries including France, Britain, Denmark, Germany, India, Bahrain, Lebanon, Norway, Romania, Turkey, Singapore, Switzerland, Belgium, Japan, the Netherlands, Taiwan, Italy, and the United Arab Emirates.

The official mentioned Total and Air Liquide Group from France, Infraleuna from Germany, Nexant, Honeywell UOP and Johnson Matthey from UK, Haldor Topsoe from Denmark, Norner from Norway and ICIS from Singapore as some top participants of the forum.

She also said that 1360 participants, representing 385 Iranian companies, will participate in the forum.

“The motto of this edition of IPF is ‘Bringing the World of Petrochemicals Together’, in a way that we bring main players of petrochemical industry in the world together to benefit from their experiences,” Alavi further stated.

In this due, some specialized sessions and panels, a workshop and an exhibition will be also held on the sidelines of the forum, she said adding that 20 foreigners and 12 Iranians will deliver speech in the event.

The official mentioned market and technology trends in petrochemical industry, petrochemical feedstock in Iran and development potentials, outlook of petrochemical industry in Iran and in the world, chain of value in petrochemical industry, and technological development in petrochemical industry as the subjects of specialized sessions, and petrochemical projects, investment and finance, modern technology, development and transfer of technology as the subjects of panels to be held on the sidelines of the IPF.

She said a risk management workshop will be also held by The Global Institute for Risk Management Standards of Belgium.

The IPF manager named Marziyeh Shahdaie, the managing director of NPC, Mohammad-Hossein Adeli, the secretary general of Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF), Ali Tayyebnia, Iranian finance minister, Mohammad Khazaei, deputy finance minister as well as the head of Organization for Investment, Economic and Technical Assistance of Iran, Amir-Hossein Zamaninia, deputy oil minister for trade and international affairs, Mehdi Karbasian, the managing director of Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO), and Adel Nejad Salim, the managing director of Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company as some Iranian spokespersons of the event.

‘Investment attraction main goal of IPF’

Alavi further mentioned attraction of investment to the petrochemical industry the main objective of IPF and said laying the ground in this due, for example providing related insurances, is one of the main items paid attention by the NPC.

“The other important goal is to create an opportunity for our specialized companies, consultation companies, manufacturers and equipment suppliers to showcase their capabilities”, she said and referred to introducing domestic achievements in the field of technology as the other significant goal.

Developments in upstream sector of oil industry which has resulted in stable supply of feedstock to the petrochemical complexes is the other objective of IPF, she mentioned, adding factors for invigorating petrochemical industry both in Iran and in the region is another objective.

Given the policies of Oil Ministry for development of petrochemical industry, NPC has identified some areas for development and in this due introducing the regions projected to be petrochemical hubs in the country is another goal of the event, the official added.

 ‘Many negotiations with foreigners since 12th IPF’

“Since the previous edition of IPF (which was held on December 13-14, 2015) We have had many negotiations with foreign companies, with many of them we have set up some specialized groups to investigate the economic requirements for preparing the investment condition in Iran and these groups have been conducting related studies since many months ago”, the NPC director told the Tehran Times.

“We hope that the barriers in this due will be removed in near future”, she added.

Elsewhere in her remarks, the official said, “As investment attraction is a determining factor for us, we have also negotiated with some international banks and insurance institutes since the previous edition to remove the barriers in terms of transferring money.”

Iran's Sixth Five-Year National Development Plan (2016-2021) has envisaged attraction of $40 billion investment to the petrochemical sector. In this regard, NPC and private petrochemical companies are making their most efforts to take necessary measures for attracting foreign companies to investment making in the country, she added.