TEHRAN, Dec. 19 (Shana) � Director of Production Control in Iran�s National Petrochemical Company (NPC) said the firm is ready to cooperate with foreign investors in order to develop the industry.

�The ground is ready for investment in Iran�s petrochemical industry for Iranian and foreign financiers. It is hoped that in the post-sanctions period, the industry will witness introduction of new Iranian and foreign capital so that development projects will be expedited,� Ali-Mohammad Bossaqzadeh told Shana.
He said Iran�s coastal lines including the Oman Sea basin are of the interest of foreign investors to develop petrochemical projects.

�A major European firm is ready to invest 8 billion euros in a petrochemical chain,� the NPC official added but did not identify the company.
Bossaqzadeh said that the petrochemical industry in Iran has very sound infrastructures making it a lucrative business.

His comments came after NPC hosted Iran Petrochemical Forum (IPF2015) on December 13-14 in Tehran.
Some 97 foreign companies from 25 countries participated in IPF2015 which showed an increase of 120 percent compared to IPF2014.

More than 15,00 representatives from domestic and foreign firms including Australia, Azerbaijan, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Russia, and US are took part in the two-day event.
Participants in the IPF2015, one of the world�s most prestigious events representing the petrochemical industry, discussed the core issues that the industry is facing with the emphasis given to Iran.

It provided a platform where stakeholders and key players in the global petrochemical sector met to exchange knowledge and address the latest advancements and best practices which are capable of shaping the future of the industry.
Following the historic nuclear agreement, Iran used the event to unveil its post-sanctions projects and plans for further expanding the Iranian petrochemical output capacity from the current 60 million t/y to over 138 million t/y in 2020 and eventually to 180 million t/y by 2025 with an investment of over $80 billion.

NPC seeks to use Iran�s natural gas reserves as raw material to produce propylene and propylene derivatives to provide feed for the expansion of local downstream industries.

By SHANA