MNA � The National Petrochemical Company (NPC) and the Iranian Mines & Mining Industries Development & Renovation Organization (IMIDRO), have reached an agreement to facilitate the construction of several petrochemical projects in southern Iran.

As per a memorandum of understanding signed between the two sides on Monday, IMIDRO and NPC will provide the grounds to speed up the construction operation of the petrochemical projects in Phase I of Parsian Energy Intensive Industrial Special Economic Zone (PEIISEZ), along the Persian Gulf.

Accordingly, the state-run NPC is tasked with vetting the credentials of petrochemical units intended to be based in PEIISEZ.

Facilitating the deployment of petrochemical companies in the zone, the MoU will accelerate the operation of five petrochemical projects in the region, each of which will have a capacity to generate five to seven thousand jobs.

Plans are underway to produce 4 million tons of steel, 18 million tons of petrochemicals and 1.2 million tons of aluminum. Besides 6,000 megawatts of power will also be generated in the region.

Petrochemical is Iran's most important industry after oil and gas. The National Petrochemical Company hopes to lift output capacity to 120 million tons per annum by 2022.

In the March 2018-19 fiscal, Iranian companies exported $14.1 billion worth of petrochemicals. Official data has it that petrochemicals account for 32% of Iran�s non-oil exports.

The petrochemical industry has played a key role in domestic economic growth as it creates value-added and reduces the sale of oil and gas on which the economy has been dependent for decades.

With abundant hydrocarbon reserves and new private sector investments, Iran is working hard to maintain its global status in the key sector and broaden its scope.