Iran an Indonesia signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to establish a joint venture for the export of petrochemicals and petroleum products, Mehdi Sharifi-Nik, managing director of the Petrochemical Commercial Company (PCC) said, Shana reported on Friday.
Sharifi-Nik said, "The two countries will exchange technical information on the export of petrochemicals, especially urea and ammonia." An Iranian delegation traveled to Indonesia to explore areas of cooperation. The two sides reached an early agreement to establish a joint venture in Indonesia under Iran's administration.
The venture aims to build a warehouse and several storage units in one of Indonesia's free trade zones over the next few months.
Iran and Indonesia signed their first joint venture agreement for the Hengam Petrochemical Complex in Asaluyeh in Bushehr Province in 2008. The complex was designed to produce 677,000 metric tons of ammonia and 1,072,000 metric tons of urea per year based on natural gas as feedstock.
Indonesia left OPEC in 2009 because it ceased to be a net exporter of oil. It could not fulfill the demands of its own country's needs, as growth in demand outstripped output. However, it is still exporting light and sweet crude, and imports heavier oil.
Sharifi-Nik stressed that proper economic growth of Indonesia in recent years has made the country an attractive choice for investment among members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
ASEAN is a political and economic organization of ten Southeast Asian countries formed in 1967 by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
