South Pars, which is located in the Persian Gulf area, is the largest single gas field in the world.

TEHRAN, Sept. 11--Plans are underway to sign an agreement for developing six more phases of South Pars gas field, announced deputy oil minister for planning affairs, Akbar Torkan, on Saturday.
In an interview with Fars news agency, he said the deal (for developing phases XV-XX) is estimated to be worth more than $6 billion and is likely to be finalized before March.
"The agreement on phases XV and XVI will be in the form of finance and the rest will in the buy-back mode." The official urged the government to improve its financial services to domestic constructors and industrialists, for example, by allowing them to borrow from the Foreign Currency Reserve Fund so as to help them 'emerge as a strong competitors in oil tenders'.
The deputy minister said handing over South Pars development projects to domestic firms outside legal frameworks will displease their rivals unless they manage to demonstrate their capabilities and potentials.
He acknowledged the significant technological progress made by domestic contractors in various fields from construction to installment of oil- and gas-related equipment, but said they still lag behind their foreign counterparts.
"Today, more than ever, the government trusts domestic firms and is ready to assign major gas and oil schemes to them," he said, but cautioned that they need to further upgrade their potentials to play a greater role in implementing projects envisaged in the fourth five-year development plan (2005-2010).
According to the plan, he said, more than $450 billion will be invested in the oil industry, half of which will have to come from domestic sources.
South Pars, which is located in the Persian Gulf area, is the largest single gas field in the world.
The field extends across the Iranian (South Pars) and Qatari (North Field) sectors of the Persian Gulf, and Iran's share is being developed in 25 phases.

State earnings from the price difference for imported cement will be spent on transportation of domestically-produced cement to various parts of the country.

TEHRAN, Sept. 11--A proposal by the Ministry of Industries and Mines to meet a possible cement shortage through domestic production will go into effect once the Commerce Ministry approves the plan.
Deputy industries and mines minister, Hedayatollah Aqaie, further said in an interview with ISNA on Saturday that based on the proposal, state earnings from the price difference for nearly 200,000 tons of imported cement will be spent on transportation of domestically-produced cement to various parts of the country.
"Based on figures, cement transport costs are less than the price of its import," he said, adding that currently the country is facing no shortage of this basic construction material and it is predicted that the condition of the market would remain calm and balanced for the next few years.
Aqaie added that plans are underway to increase domestic cement production to 500,000 tons next year (March 2005-6).
The government's failure to set an adequate and profitable price for cement manufactured in domestic factories have caused its exports to triple, reaching 3.5-4 million tons this year.
He said the price should be based on the supply and demand mechanism, otherwise it will cause huge losses to the public and producers alike.

Research projects pertain to development and use of wind, geothermal and solar energies as well as hydrogen as alternative sources of energy.

TEHRAN, Sept. 11--Taking advantage of new and renewable forms of energy has become the fulcrum of related policies of most governments as a suitable substitute for fossil fuels.
Expressing this view, deputy head for planning affairs of the New Energies Organization, Mohammad-Reza Kashanirad, told ISNA on Saturday that the Energy Ministry has several research projects at hand to look into ways of exploiting renewable energy resources. "The ministry realizes that upgrading its technical and engineering potentials is indispensable for achieving its objectives."
"Through optimization of domestic capabilities and by seeking advice from leading foreign consultants, the ministry will attempt to localize design and construction of related equipment," he added.
Kashanirad noted that research projects pertain to development and use of wind, geothermal and solar energies as well as hydrogen as alternative sources of energy.
He referred to the construction of a wind farm with a power generation capacity of 600 KW in Neyshabour, Khorasan province which will be linked to the national electricity grid, and said another power plant which will operate by using solar energy is under construction in Shiraz and will become operational next year. "The plant's capacity will be 250 KW."
The officials said that lack of awareness among the public coupled with shortage of funds are hindering development of the sector.
The organization's managing director, Yousef Armoudeli, also told ISNA in another interview that Iran's second geothermal plant in Meshkinshahr with a capacity of 5,000 MW became operational on an experimental basis and was successful. "This will pave way for the construction of two power plants in adjacent area to supply electricity to Ardebil province."
The project, according to officials, is the first of its kind in the Middle East.
Armoudeli said technologically Iran is among the best in the Middle East in designing and constructing power plants as well as manufacturing turbines.
The top energy official said he favored drawing a distinction line between new and renewable forms of energy with atomic energy, saying that incorporating the two will subject the sector to undue restrictions and hinder its progress 'given that alternative and renewable energy sectors take on increasing importance from the perspective of sustainable development'.

TEHRAN, Sept. 11--An economic expert said here on Saturday that the draft bill on the fourth five-year development plan (2005-2010) has undergone major changes during the ongoing parliamentary revision, stressing that members of the Seventh Parliament view the issue from a political angle.
Seyyed Mohammad Rowhani told ILNA that incumbent lawmakers do not have remarkable economic background, adding that their revision of the fourth plan bill has been politically motivated.
"The MPs' factional approach has led to an overall change in the fourth plan, which was earlier ratified by the government and the last parliament but was rejected (by the constitutional supervisory body Guardians Council) for certain reasons," he said, stressing that macroeconomic policies of the plan have been changed.
The expert noted that an amendment to Article 44 of the Constitution, which bans privatization of major industries, would help resolve many problems arising from the ambiguities about the scope of private and state sectors' activities.
"Lack of transparency in state sector's activities has seriously harmed the national economy and led to greater involvement of state companies in economic activities," he added.
The original version of the draft fourth development plan bill had envisaged a 12.2-percent investment growth rate, 10.7-percent rise in non-oil exports, a decline to 6.8 percent in inflation and reduction of unemployment rate to 8.4 percent during the plan period.

With annual production of 500,245 tons of various agricultural and livestock products, the northwestern province of West Azarbaijan has contributed largely to the improvement of the already booming agro sector.
The province has also emerged in recent years as a major exporter of agro products to regional countries, such as Turkey, Iraq and Azerbaijan Republic.
The West Azarbaijan province exports 30 percent of its annual production to these countries. It produces 41,000 tons of chicken and 48,200 tons of red meat per annum.
The province, with a total of 2.5 million hectares of pastures and gardens as well as 1.5 million hectares of farmlands, accounts for 6.5 percent of the national livestock production.
The province has the largest water resources, second only to Khuzestan, and enjoys exceptional geographic diversity. It borders the autonomous Nakhichevan Republic, Turkey and Iraq.
The northwestern province produces 20 percent of Iran's honey output as well as 4.7 percent of the total value-added in the livestock and honeybee sectors.
The province's poultry industry has also grown significantly in recent years.
Reza Savari, a West Azarbaijan poultry farmer, contends that the province produces RAS chickens above the international standards.
"In some poultry farms, some 152 chickens are bred from every RAS hen, whereas the figure stands at 122 internationally," he told Iran Daily, adding that British experts visiting the provincial poultry farms have been amazed by their performance.
"Mahabad Poultry Institute produces six million chickens per annum," he said, stressing that RAS chickens account for 48 percent of Iran's chicken imports.
The poultry farmer further said that poultry unions have not been given the chance to engage in making decisions on market regulation procedures, which he described as one of the most important obstacles to promoting the lucrative industry.
"Another problem facing the poultry industry is the extensive administrative bureaucracy we have to go through before we can receive banking facilities," he said, calling for 'serious and practical' participation by poultry industry officials in the process of making import-related decisions.
"Excessive import of frozen chickens and their untimely distribution have also harmed the national poultry industry."
The head of the Research and Development Department of the Aquatic, Livestock and Poultry Food Company also told Iran Daily that the province produces 130,000 tons of animal food.
Javad Seyyed-Nejad, head of the West Azarbaijan Agriculture Jihad Organization, further told Iran Daily that the province produces best-quality cheese.
"The province exports cheese to European and American countries for 12 euros per kilo," he added.

TEHRAN, Sept. 11--A well-functioning and healthy banking system is prerequisite for achieving an ambitious 8 percent economic growth rate in the coming years, said the Head of the Monetary and Banking Research Institute Ahmad Mojtahed on Saturday.
To accomplish this, he said, the fourth five-year economic development plan targets a 2.5 percent growth in banking efficiency. This, he said, requires the government to enforce more effective financial and banking policies.
According to Mojtahed, Iran's banking system is encountering serious challenges that have contributed to prolonged banking procedures and inadequate services to the dissatisfaction of customers.
These challenges include unofficial monetary and financial markets, non-usury funds, instability at the Tehran Stock Exchange and runaway inflation.
Mojtahed added that making bank operations electronic is a priority for the government; an objective that will hopefully be materialized in the immediate future.
Turning to Islamic banking, Mojtahed said adapting banking laws in line with Islamic tenets has become a necessity rather than an option for financial institutes and banks in Islamic countries, particularly in a country like Iran which was among first Muslim nations to adopt Islamic banking system.
He said Islamic banking is not an insignificant or merely temporary phenomenon. "Islamic banks are here to stay and there are signs that they will continue to grow and expand."
In conclusion, Mojtahed pointed out that even if one does not subscribe to the Islamic ban on paying out interest, one may find in Islamic banking some innovative ideas which could add more variety to the existing financial network.
He referred to the seminar on Islamic banking to open in Tehran today and said the event aims at facilitating exchange of information and experiences among banking and financial experts in Islamic countries to help them adopt to Islamic banking more rapidly.

TEHRAN, Sept. 11--Energy Minister Habibollah Bitaraf here on Friday said that more than 85 percent of the facilities and tools required in the water sector are made domestically, IRNA said.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Third International Exhibition of Water Industry, Water and Sewage Facilities, the minister hoped that by employing young specialists in the industry, Iran's technical and engineering capacities would be strengthened and the country would become self-sufficient in the sector.
The Third International Exhibition of Water Industry, Water and Sewage Facilities opened here on September 6. Over 300 foreign and domestic firms participated in the event which ended on Friday.

TEHRAN, Sept. 11--Following the decision to avail of e-commerce facilities in marine trade activities, Iran has managed to become Dubai's top marine trade partner in the Persian Gulf region.
According to Fars news agency, trade between Iran and Dubai has increased considerably in the first half of the current Iranian year (March-September).
Dubai Customs Department reported that out of the total 12,523 commercial ships calling at Dubai port in the said period, some 9,034 were Iran-flagged and the rest belonged to neighboring countries, including Kuwait and Qatar and other Persian Gulf states.
According to official statistics, Iran is one of the most, if not the important trading partners of businessmen in Dubai and another emirate Sharjah. The value of UAE's exports to Iran in 2003 hit $5.4 billion. The UAE imported goods and services worth $900 million from Iran.
Iranian investment in Dubai is put at $15 billion to date, and Iranians both inside and outside Iran are heavily investing in the tiny Persian Gulf emirate, with thousands of successful Iranian businessmen active in the Arab sheikhdom.
In other words, the rapid economic growth of Dubai and Jabal Ali Free Trade Zone is to a large extent dependent on Iranians and any severance of ties between the two countries will cost Dubai's economy dearly. It would also make Dubai a riskier investment for Westerners and Asians if the big neighbor on its doorstep became a foe rather than a friend.