All-Out Support For Private Sector

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Hamid Reza Pahlevani, the deputy minister of roads and urban development, said the expansion of aviation and aerospace industries is the top priority of the ministry.
Hamid Reza Pahlevani said an agreement has been reached for materializing the aviation industry’s goals in manufacturing 150-seat planes.
“Also, significant steps have been taken for the production of light planes as well as light and heavy helicopters,” he said.
“We seek to increase passenger transportation to 50 million and double freight transportation.”
He said the revenues of airlines have grown by 45 percent in the past 10 years.
Also, managing director of Iran Air Company said Homa Company has conducted 30,000 flights and transferred 4 million passengers during current Iranian year (started March 20).
Pahlevani put the occupancy rate of Iran Air flights at 73 percent.
On rendering services to Hajj pilgrims, he said about 390,000 pilgrims of minor pilgrimage to Makkah were transported during the current year.
He added that the number of pilgrims for the holy shrines of Iraq increased by 66 percent. On privatization of Homa Company, Pahlevani said it was conducted in three phases.
“Air Tour Company and Homa hotels were completely privatized,” he added.
Homa Company is being ceded in barter form due to the government’s debt to the Social Security Organization of Iran.
Meanwhile, managing director of Iran Airports Company (IAC) said projects worth 30 trillion rials are underway at Imam Khomeini International Airport (IKIA).
Mohammad Rasoulinejad added that investments are made by the private sector in BOT and BLT forms.
He said airline companies owe 2.2 trillion rials to Iran Airports Company.
Rasoulinejad put the company’s monthly costs at 400 billion rials on average, which is secured by domestic and international airline companies as well money earned through renting the buildings.
Over 249,000 flights have been conducted and 30.9 million travelers (including 6 million foreign visitors) have been transferred during March 20-Nov. 20.

Sasol Rejects Reports on Quitting Iran

The South African petrochemicals group Sasol on Sunday dismissed media reports that the company has decided to review its investment in Iran and leave the country due to the West’s unilateral sanctions against Tehran.
“Sasol Company is satisfied with investment in Iran and does not intend to leave the country at all,” African Managing Director of Arya Sasol Polymers Company Eric Roper told Fars News Agency.
Sasol has a 50-percent stake in Arya Sasol Polymer company, a joint venture with Pars Petrochemical Company of Iran. The venture produces ethylene and polyethylene, which are used in the production of plastics.
The company relies on Iranian oil imports for about 20 percent of its crude requirement, or 12,000 barrels a day, at its Natref refinery.
Pars Petrochemical, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company, is also a partner in the joint venture and supplies ethylene, which is used as a raw material for the chemical industry, or polymer plants.
The Iran plant, in the Pars Special Economic Energy Zone in the southern Bushehr province near the Persian Gulf, was built in 2002 and started producing ethylene in February 2009.
In the latest interim results, Arya Sasol Polymer Company said the Iranian plant had a capacity utilization rate of 81 percent.
These remarks came after media reports said Sasol had announced in a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission in October that there was a possible risk that sanctions may be imposed on the company by the United States, the European Union and the United Nations as a result of its investments in Iran.

Iran 3rd in Regional FDI

A top investment official announced on Sunday that Iran attracted $4.3 billion worth of foreign direct investments (FDI) in 2011, becoming the third country in the Middle East in this regard.
Behrouz Alishiri, the head of the Organization for Investment, Economic and Technical Assistance of Iran (OIETAI), stressed that the country’s FDI index ranked third in the region in 2011, IRNA reported.
“Iran’s FDI index in the region was seventh in 2008,” he said.
“Iran also attracted $2.6 billion in foreign investment in 2010.”
Despite international sanctions banning foreign investment in Iranian industries, the country has been successful in attracting foreign investment over the past few years.

70% of Kavian Plant Complete

Domestic experts are implementing all projects and have, for instance, accomplished the construction of a major part of Kavian Petrochemical Plant.
Addressing the managers and directors of NPC’s subsidiary companies in the southern city of Assalouyeh, Bushehr province, on Saturday, Managing Director of National Petrochemical Company (NPC) Abdolhossein Bayat played down the US-led unilateral sanctions against Iran’s petrochemical sector.
Bayat said Iranian experts have already accomplished the construction of Kavian plant by 70 percent, Fars News Agency reported.
“The domestic manufacturing of over 70 percent of this complex (Kavian) is a real manifestation of reliance on domestic capabilities and self-belief,” he said.
“We should join hands and work for the petrochemical industry’s growth and advancement with all the existing capabilities and possibilities.”
Earlier this year, Bayat said Kavian Petrochemical Plant (Olefin-11 production complex) will become fully operational in the near future.
“In addition to Kavian Petrochemical Plant, the first phase of Damavand Petrochemical Plant will become operational next spring,” Bayat told Shana.
Bayat expressed satisfaction with the pace of construction at Sabalan, Dena and Marjan petrochemical plants conducted by Iranian experts.
“By launching the second phase of petrochemical projects in Assalouyeh (onshore installations of South Pars gas field), these projects will account for 55 percent of the total installed capacity of the country’s petrochemical production capacity and reach nearly 55 million tons per year,” he said.
Bayat said 25 projects, including in production and subsidiary services sectors with a production capacity of 33 million tons per year, are underway in the second phase of petrochemical sites of Assalouyeh while the first phase includes the construction of 11 petrochemical complexes with a production capacity of 22 million tons per year.
Upon the launch of the two phases, Assalouyeh will turn into one of the largest petrochemical hubs in the Middle East.

$5b Invested in Persian Gulf Economic Zone

Domestic Economy Desk

About $5 billion worth of investments have been made in the Persian Gulf Special Economic Zone (PGSEZ) in recent years, the zone’s managing director said.
Speaking in a meeting with members of the economic delegation from Musandam province of Oman on Sunday, Masoud Hendian said the zone has turned into a hub of aluminum and zinc production and is loading and unloading mineral and oil products.
He noted that 23 large companies are operating in the energy industries of the zone, which export about $1 billion worth of goods annually.
The official noted that about 10,000 jobs have been generated in the zone, adding that with respect to the plans drawn up in this regard, the figure is expected to hit 30,000 in the near future.
Hendian said PGSEZ is ready to attract foreign investment, noting that 3,000 pieces of land are ready to be handed over to the applicants.
Plans have been outlined for the production of 10 million tons of steel in the region, 5 million tons of which have so far been materialized.
He referred to the establishment of factories for manufacturing steel, aluminum ingot, iron ore concentrate, pellet, hot-rolled steel and aluminum alloy as the main field of investment in the region.
Hendian said investment companies of Oman, especially in Musandam province that neighbors Hormuzgan province, are welcome in the Persian Gulf Special Economic Zone.

183 Mehr-e Mandegar Projects Underway

Translated by Leila Imani

Some 263 projects have been organized by the Roads and Urban Development Ministry under 183 Mehr-e Mandegar plans, said the roads and transportation minister.
In a message on the occasion of Transportation Week (started Dec. 16), Ali Nikzad said 80 road construction projects spanning 8,294 km and 33 railroad projects spread over 3,731 km are underway nationwide, IRNA reported on Sunday.
He added that the construction of 10,000 km of rural roads, 68 hospitals and 15 public and administrative buildings, 3 ports and 6 airport projects are among projects implemented by the ministry.
Referring to the special geographical location of Iran for its access to free waters and markets of neighboring countries, the minister said abundant manpower resources and climatic diversity are among the country’s special economic advantages.
Nikzad said 196 km of railroads, 149 km of freeway, 1,848 km of highway and 1,558 km of main roads were built by the Roads and Urban Development Ministry last year.
He added that 46.4 million, 42.1 million and 352 million of passengers travelled via railroads, air and roads in the country since the beginning of last year (March 21, 2011) till now.
Nikzad said 8,000 billion rials of investment are being made in the country’s ports annually, adding that the condition has been prepared for the presence of private sector in related activities.

Mineral Reserves Up 11b Tons

Domestic Economy Desk

Iran’s discovered mineral reserves have increased by 11 billion tons in the past three and a half years, said deputy industries, mines and trade minister.
Speaking in the First Conference on Mine Exploration and Investment Opportunities on Sunday, Vajihollah Jafari said about 1.6 trillion rials have been invested in the field of mine exploration from March 2009 to March 2012, IRNA reported.
He said about 68 percent of the mines pertain to construction material and decorative stones and 10 percent to minerals.
“Iran has 6,200 mines, of which 5,300 are presently operating,” he said.
Expressing satisfaction over the contribution of private sector in mining, the official said the implementation of Article 44 of the Constitution has provided the ground for the investment of private sector in mining projects.
Jafari promised that facilities will be allocated to the private sector in the next year’s budget.
Statistics show that 340 million tons of minerals were extracted in the country last year and the figure is expected to hit 390 million tons by the end of the current Iranian year (March 2012).
The First Conference on Mine Exploration and Investment Opportunities is underway in Tehran from Dec. 16-18.

Auto Parts Export

Based on a recent contract, Iran will export €3 million worth of auto parts to Turkey by the end of the current Iranian year (March 20, 2013).