TEHRAN, Dec. 20--A senior Oil Ministry official admitted Tuesday that profound ’differences of opinion’ exist regarding natural gas exports, adding that the continuation of talks would depend on a decision by the Ahmadinejad administration.
“The government is required to give the go-ahead to the continuation of gas export talks with India, Pakistan and Europe as well as LNG negotiations,“ Seyyed Hadi Nejad-Hosseinian, deputy oil minister for international affairs, told ISNA, adding that a number of agreements have been reached with several foreign countries on export of natural gas and LNG.
He said the government is free to decide on these agreements, stressing that preliminary agreements reached earlier will not entail any commitments for Iran.
The official further noted that if the Ahmadinejad administration decides to continue gas exports, the preliminary agreements can be finalized soon.
He said gas industry officials of Iran and India will meet in New Delhi on December 26-27 to decide about the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project, adding that Iranian and Pakistani authorities will also meet a few days later for the same purpose.
“If these talks produce concrete results, a trilateral meeting will be planned for the second half of January,“ he said.
Nejad-Hosseinian stressed that the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Iran and Spain regarding gas exports to that country has now expired, reiterating that the Ahmadinejad administration is not in favor of gas sales to Spain and the MoU will not entail any obligation to this effect.
On export of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to India, the official said the agreement will be finalized only if the relevant bodies confirm that it is in Iran’s best interest to implement this project.
“Otherwise, we will have no commitments on LNG exports to India,“ he said.
Pakistan and India will discuss the project structure of multi-billion Iran gas pipeline in the next joint working group meeting to be heldÊin IslamabadÊin February.
An agreement has already been reached to set up a technical group to discuss the various technical aspects of the project.
Some political circles have expressed opposition to gas exports, arguing that Iran itself needs more gas in the future and that the current gas export projects lack economic justification.

TEHRAN, Dec. 20--President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has reportedly authorized the use of foreign financial resources during the Fourth Five-Year Plan (2005-2010).
According to Fars news agency, the chief executive has also permitted the Management and Planning Organization (MPO) to consider the use of foreign finance while drawing up annual budgets.
The move comes two weeks after the arbitrating body, State Expediency Council (SEC), overturned an earlier ruling by the constitutional supervisory body, Guardians Council (GC), that had banned the use of foreign finance in national projects.
After nine months of intense debates, the Seventh Parliament finally managed to convince the SEC to approve the use of foreign finance.
The Guardians had banned the use of foreign finance on grounds that it is against the usury-free Islamic financial system.
Foreign finance is used when domestic financial resources are inadequate for giant projects. The Fourth Five-Year Plan has stipulated the use of foreign financial facilities in national projects.
The Guardians’ decision to ban foreign finance had raised serious questions among economic officials and experts.
Some said the decision had served as a blow to foreign investments.

Mohammad Bokharaei

TEHRAN, Dec. 20--A senior Roads and Transportation Ministry official said on Tuesday that domestic heavy vehicle manufacturers play a vital role in supplying the needs of the road transportation fleet.
Speaking while inspecting Iran Khodro Diesel, a subsidiary of Iran’s largest carmaker Iran Khodro, Mohammad Bokharaei, deputy minister and head of Road Maintenance and Transportation Organization, said the organization will spare no effort to protect the national automotive industry.
According to the Public Relations Office of the company, the official lauded the remarkable role of Iran Khodro Diesel in developing road transportation system, stressing that the company has managed to boost national production of transport vehicles.
Bokharaei further told Iran Khodro Diesel managing director, Majid Sheikhaei, that his organization will support companies which contribute effectively to efforts to develop road transportation fleet.

TEHRAN, Dec. 20--Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said here on Tuesday that the economy plays a crucial role in global developments, stressing that all countries will inevitably become part of the globalization process.
The minister told ISNA that countries that enter the global economic arena unprepared and those which avoid global ambiance will indeed turn into a huge consumer market for foreign products.
“Establishing links and interacting with global economy is inevitable for Iran,“ he said, adding, however, that the country’s economic and commercial infrastructures need to be taken into consideration in building greater international economic interactions.
“We will encounter quite less adverse consequences of entering the global economic arena,“ the top diplomat said.
Earlier, Iran’s plenipotentiary representative to the UN trade body said strategies laid down in the Fourth Five-Year Plan (2005-2010) are not enough Iran to World Trade Organization (WTO) membership.
Esfandiar Ommidbakhsh said the membership process will take Iran at least 10 years, stressing that it may drag on through fifth and sixth five-year development plans.
He said there is a policy rift in the country with respect to WTO accession, adding that the country is currently in the very early stages of preparations. He called on the Ahmadinejad administration and other senior officials of the establishment to make their ultimate decision on WTO entry.

Some 85 percent of the constructions are being handled by the builders.

TEHRAN, Dec. 20--Builders control Iran’s construction market, said the head of the Association of Construction Firms here on Tuesday.
Bahaeddin Adab told ISNA that the builders are in close collaboration in increasing prices of real estate, stressing that they are waiting for the current recession that has plagued the construction sector for quite some time to come to an end in order to be able to step up their activities.
“Presently, some 85 percent of the constructions are being handled by the builders,“ he said, adding that mass constructors need to receive greater attention.
The former lawmaker further said that construction costs are higher for regular builders, adding that prices of real estate can come down if mass constructors become more involved in the industry.
“A mass constructor is one who builds more than 100 units,“ he said, adding, however, that those who construct over seven units are referred to as mass constructors in Iran.
The concept of mass construction has to be redefined, he said.
The construction sector faced a 22.7-percent recession during March-September. Recession is expected to reach 70 percent by March.
This is while the construction industry’s financial turnover reached 300-350 trillion rials in the year to March 2005.
The banking system provides 15-20 percent of the construction sector’s financial needs. Experts say even the new banking facilities failed to bring the troubled market back to life.
Iran will need 25 million new houses in the next 20 years. An average one million houses have to be constructed each year to meet growing demand.

TEHRAN, Dec. 20--Iran’s trade fair will be held in Algeria in April, said the head of the Iran-Algeria Trade Center here on Monday.
According to a report faxed to Iran Daily by Iran-Algeria Trade Center, Hossein Parhizgar, also said that Iran attaches great significance to economic ties with Algeria, stressing that Iranian companies will become familiar with trade opportunities in Algeria by participating in the exhibition.
The event will showcase the latest products and achievements of Iranian companies.
Parhizgar said given that Algeria is the world’s second largest gas exporter and its proximity to Europe, it could turn into a profitable re-export market for Iranian companies.
“Algerian people, due to their cultural and religious commonalties with the Iranians, are willing to establish closer trade cooperation with the Iranians,“ he said, adding that the Commerce Ministry must facilitate participation of Iranian companies in Algerian projects.
Various products and services, including oil engineering and construction services as well as electronic and telecommunications equipment and home appliances, carpets, aluminum and fishery products will be displayed at the six-day event, which will open in Algiers in mid-April.

TEHRAN, Dec. 20--Rice farmers in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan have braced for a huge production hike in the next crop season as area under cultivation has increased five-fold to reach 4,000 hectares.
Jamil Alizadeh-Shayeq, secretary of State Rice Association, told ISNA that consecutive droughts had kept the area under rice cultivation at below 800 hectares in Sistan-Baluchestan, stressing that rice production has increased significantly with an improvement in the water situation in the parched province.
He called on the government to pay further attention to the rice industry in Sistan-Baluchestan, stressing that the Rice Research Institute is required to set up a branch in the impoverished province.
Alizadeh-Shayeq said earlier that Iran has moved one step closer to self-sufficiency in rice, stressing that rice production has reached 2.3 million tons.
He said the country needs to import only 300,000 tons per annum.
“It is possible to increase rice production to attain self-sufficiency, if the government protects the sector by providing funds for mechanization, renovation and integration of rice farms,“ he said, adding that the government and farmers must work together to tackle high production costs and poor competition.
He further called for changes in the people’s eating habits by introducing proper alternatives to rice.

LONDON, Dec. 20--ABN Amro Bank NV, the biggest Dutch lender, will pay $80 million in penalties for violating US regulations by processing wire transfers and other transactions for banks in Iran and Libya.
According to Bloomberg, ABN Amro will pay $40 million to the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors, $20 million to New York’s state bank regulator and $15 million to Illinois, and donate $5 million to a bank examiners’ education fund, the regulators said Monday in an order of assessment.
The bank also agreed to improve its global compliance and risk-management systems, according to a cease and desist order.
“ABN Amro recognizes that serious mistakes were made and accepts the sanctions,“ the Amsterdam-based bank said in a statement.
US regulators said a New York branch of ABN Amro processed wire transfers and letters of credit by Bank Melli Iran, an Iranian state-run lender. An overseas branch of ABN Amro then removed any reference to Bank Melli’s name in the wire-payment instructions, they said.
ABN Amro also handled transactions for Arab Bank for Investment and Foreign Trade, an entity the US considers part of the Libyan state, according to the cease and desist order.
Many of the infractions took place before ABN Amro reached a July 2004 agreement with US regulators to shore up compliance at its New York branch. Most were discovered by ABN Amro’s own investigation and volunteered to authorities, the bank said.