TEHRAN -- Ne'matzadeh, the managing director of National Iranian Petrochemical Company (NIPC), invited domestic industrialists and specialists to invest in the intermediate petrochemical industries. In an exclusive interview with the Central News Bureau, he said, "The NIPC has established an office responsible for basic industries. It has already started studying around 100 intermediate petrochemical projects suitable for private sector investment."

He stressed the importance of developing the basic petrochemical industries in creating added value and more jobs. Details about these projects would shortly be announced in the press, after completion of studies and implementation prospects. Expressing his satisfaction with the rapid pace of development in Iran's petrochemical industries he declared, "There has been a major shift in domestic manufacturing capabilities so that all fixed petrochemical industrial equipment and some of the variable items are built in Iran."

Ne'matzadeh announced self-sufficiency in the industries' electrical and instrumentation engineering sectors. He said about twenty different projects comprising industrial design at present, which are being carried out by Iranian specialists.

He referred to the MTBE production unit in Mahshahr, Kurdestan Province, the polyethylene manufacturing unit, and phase one of Fajr petrochemical industries among the twenty projects currently being handled.

While acknowledging considerable progress in the industry and signing of important agreements, he pointed to the meager share in global petrochemical exports of about 0.8 percent.

Ne'matzadeh expected Iran's share to leap to 2 percent by the end of the Third Five-Year Economic Development Plan.

He said that development in this field must further extend since, the Islamic Republic of Iran having obtained proper experience in the petrochemical industries together with enormous oil and gas reserves should not lag behind others.