photo: ISNA

Addressing local officials attending a special ceremony held on the occasion of launching of five major petrochemical projects in this southwestern city, he said petrochemical products comprise four percent of the country's industrial exports.

Praising the efforts made by Oil Ministry personnel to develop petrochemical industries, President Khatami expressed hope that based on planning within the next ten years the value of Iran's petrochemical products would equal that of its exported oil.

photo: ISNA

As to the government policy regarding creating job opportunities, he said petrochemical industries are the most important industries in this respect. At present, raw materials for 11,000 industrial units are being provided by petrochemical products, he added.

He further stressed that although Khuzestan had been almost destroyed during the eight-year Iraqi imposed war, the province has now been changed into a center of country's progress and development, thanks to the efforts made by the local people and provincial officials.

photo: ISNA

Khatami also appreciated efforts made by Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh and Managing Director of National Petrochemical Industries Company Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh.

He further awarded plaques of honor to 19 executive managers of several petrochemical projects in Khuzestan province.

Prior to the president's speech, Zanganeh briefed the audience on the performance of his ministry regarding petrochemical projects and said dlrs six billion worth of direct investments have been made in the area of petrochemicals in Khuzestan province in the past six years.

photo: ISNA

Several petrochemical complexes in different parts of the province will become operational by the next year, he announced.

President Khatami inaugurated five major petrochemical projects in Mahshahr on Tuesday.

Khuzestan Petrochemical Companies, Fanavaran Petrochemical Company, Fajr Petrochemical Company, Bandar Imam MTBE Petrochemical project, and a dock of the special economic-petrochemical zone were the projects inaugurated by the president.

Khuzestan Petrochemical Companies, set to produce engineering polymers, were completed at a cost of rls 600 billion plus dlrs 190 million.

photo: ISNA

Fanavaran petrochemical facility which has been producing carbon monoxide and acetic acid since 2001 was put into operation ahead of schedule at a cost of dlrs 134 million plus rls 470 billion.

The MTBE plant, however, is to become operational with an installed capacity of 500,000 tons of MTBE a year. Some rls 352 billion plus dlrs 142 million were spent on the project.

Fajr petrochemical project is the first utility project to be put into operation. It was built at a cost of rls 1,190 billion plus dlrs 310 million.

The dock, the construction of which began in 2000, has an annual capacity of loading and unloading 2.5 million tons of liquid products and was built at a cost of rls 150 billion plus dlrs 3.5 million.