A petrochemical development fund has been established in cooperation with the Securities and Exchange Organization (SEO), Mehr News reported.
"The petrochemical industry has drafted a plan to raise $70 billion in investments within 10 years, while implementing 36 new plans with appropriate nominal capacity are on the agenda," deputy oil minister, Abbas Shaari Moghaddam said Tuesday at the inaugural ceremony of the 1st International Exchange, Bank, Insurance, Capital Market and Privatization Exhibition and the 6th Exhibition on Investment Opportunities in Iran held in Kish island off the Persian Gulf.
He said a total of $80 billion investments are needed for the development of petrochemical industry sector, a part of which will come from Chinese finance, the National Development Fund of Iran (NDFI) and national foreign exchange reserves.
The NDFI will further facilitate participation of investors in the field of petrochemicals, he noted, expressing hopes that the investors in downstream petrochemical products would benefit from 30% deduction in gas charges subject to parliament approval.
Pointing to the fact that Iran own 11% of the world's crude oil and 17% of the world's proven natural gas, the oil official said the petrochemical industry is capable of producing "40 million tons of products over the next three years worth $20 billion."
By adjusting feedstock prices to reasonable levels, the petrochemical sector is also attracting international investments and western countries have shown interest in this key industry, the news agency said. "Development of petrochemicals remains a top priority of the oil industry given Iran's dynamic consumer market and easy access to feedstock."
Denmark, Netherlands, Canada, England, Greece, Cyprus, Russia, South Korea and Turkey are some of the countries present in the exhibition.
