Morteza Shahmirzaei made the offer in his meeting with Iranian ambassadors and consuls general, calling for the diplomatic apparatus to facilitate and accelerate the participation of foreign investors in Iran’s petrochemical projects.

The NPC CEO and diplomats exchanged views on “strategies to promote international cooperation in Iran’s petrochemical industry”, with Shahmirzaei underlining that domestic industry needs to diversify its products and customers and get into new international markets.

Some $90 billion have been invested in Iran’s petrochemical sector and there are more than 100 development projects in the country, added Shahmirzaei.

He described the prospect of Iran’s petrochemical industry as “positive” and said, “Policies on attracting foreign investment and supplying products and equipment will be operated quite quickly through cooperation with the country’s diplomatic apparatus.”

To that end, the National Petrochemical Company is ready to fully cooperate with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, holdings, and petrochemical companies, stated the NPC head.

Iran plans to capture the petrochemical markets in Africa, Eastern Europe, and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Shahmirzaei said and continued, “Iran’s petrochemical industry is moving toward development with a 92-million-ton production capacity.”

Around 70 percent of Iran’s petrochemical products are exported, he said, explaining 550 grades of petrochemicals are produced in Iran and last year’s exports fetched the country $16 billion.

Offered opportunities

On May 18, the NPC investment manager invited domestic and foreign investors to fund 19 projects worth $9 billion.

Reza Nekouei introduced the investment projects on the sidelines of the 27th Iran International Oil, Gas, Refining and Petrochemical Exhibition in Tehran.

Despite the sanctions, countries with the same views had a strong presence in this year’s exhibition, said the manager, expressing hope that such relations would lead to long-term investments in the petrochemical industry.

Pointing to the ‘stunning” expansion of relations between Iran and Russia over the past two years, he said, “We are determined to introduce new investment opportunities to Russia’s petrochemical industrialists to pave the way for attracting foreign capital.”