TEHRAN– The 12th Iran Petrochemical Forum (IPF) will open today in Tehran with 465 companies in attendance.

The two-day forum will be participated by 368 Iranian and 97 foreign companies from 25 countries.

On December 6, Deputy Managing Director of the National Iranian Petrochemical Company (NPC) Mohammad-Hassan Peyvandi announced that IPF would open the gateways for foreign companies to invest in the country’s petrochemical trade.  

The forum will be held following an international conference held in Tehran on November 28-29 in which Iran introduced its long-awaited new model of oil contracts, known as the Integrated Petroleum Contract (IPC). 

The country is now planning to attract foreign investment in its oil, gas and petrochemical projects in anticipation of the lifting of sanctions envisioned as part of the historic nuclear deal Iran struck with world powers in Vienna on July 14. 

Ali Mohammad Basaqzadeh, the director for production control of NPC, anticipated that Iran’s petrochemical output will rise by 8-12 percent in the next Iranian calendar year, which will start on March 20, 2016, according to the SHANA News Agency.

The official said the country’s annual petrochemical production will reach over 47 million tons by the end of the current calendar year.

Iran’s annual petrochemical output was 44 million tons in the previous year.

Iran plans to raise its petrochemical production to around 129 million tons by 2021, which marks the end of the country’s sixth five-year development plan. The country has also set a goal of increasing petrochemical output to 180 million tons by 2025.

Officials say the country has the capacity to produce 60 million tons of petrochemicals per annum.  

Meanwhile, NPC Managing Director Abbas Sheri-Moqaddam said by removal of the sanctions against Iran, the expanses of exporting petrochemicals are likely to drop by 10 percent, the IRNA news agency reported.

Iran’s Petrochemical export is projected to rise to 35 million tons this year from 32 million tons in the past year, according to Peyvandi.

SJ