TEHRAN — Iran’s private sector has invested over $1.5 billion in the Mahshahr Special Economic Petrochemical Zone, southern Iran as of 1999, the National Petrochemical Company (NPC) reported on Tuesday.

NPC added that 150 companies from the private sector have invested in the Mahshahr Special Economic Petrochemical Zone during the past seven years.

Moreover, during the same period, 47 projects have come on stream by the private sector at the zone.

Located in the southwestern province of Khuzestan, Mahshahr Special Economic Petrochemical Zone Organization is affiliated to the National Petrochemical Company. Mahshahr Special Economic Petrochemical Zone was established in 1998 in a land area as large as 1,700 hectares, at the coast of the Persian Gulf. The zone is planned to be expanded to 2,300 hectares in future.

The state-owned NPC is affiliated to the Oil Ministry and responsible for the development and operation of the country's petrochemical sector.