Renowned Chinese companies are ready to join petrochemical development projects in Iran by direct investment or partnership, a senior Iranian businessman said.
Asadollah Asgaroladi, head of the Iran-China Chamber of
Commerce, said money transfer for petrochemical companies has been facilitated
with foreign partners given the efforts exerted by the Central Bank of Iran,
adding there are still some banking troubles and more endeavors are needed to
sort them out.
“The petrochemical industry is one of the key economic
sectors of Iran and there exist vast relations between Iran and China in this
sector given Iran’s 5 billion dollars petrochemical exports to China,” he said.
He said China needs Iran’s petrochemical products and the
country relies heavily on the petrochemicals it imports from Iran and Saudi
Arabia.
Speaking at a meeting with visiting Wang Yanguo, Chairman of
the Presidium, Vice President and Secretary General of China International
Chamber of Commerce for the Private Sector (CICCPS), in his Tehran office on
Tuesday, Iranian Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh said Iran and China enjoy
extended relations in energy sector, calling on Chinese private investors to
finance petroleum projects in Iran.
Mr. Zangeneh said, "Iran and China enjoy strong and
extended relations with Chinese companies in various parts of the energy
sector.
"We are optimistic that this visit will lead to
expansion and strengthening of our relations and we witness investment of Chinese
private investors in Iran besides enhanced level of trade between the two
countries," the Iranian official said.
Also in the meeting, Wang Yanguo underlined the age-old
relations between Iran and China, adding China lacks energy resources and Iran,
given its vast energy riches, can help strengthen relations between the two
countries.
He also said that Tehran and Beijing can maintain and
strengthen their relations in oil and petrochemical sectors.