114 Foreign Firms Ready to Work in IranReza Padidar, head of Energy Committee of Tehran Chamber of Commerce, said 114 foreign SMEs had registered to operate projects in Iran.“We plan to benefit from their potential in technology transfer and partnership in investment projects,” he said.“Over the past nine months, 57% of national revenue has been produced from oil and hydrocarbon products and it can be concluded that Iran’s economy is oil-dominated. Therefore, the energy sector needs government support,” he added. “We identified European SMEs that were willing to invest in Iran. We plan to invite them to Iran later this year in order to familiarize them with projects and potentialities in Iran in a bid to prepare the ground for joint development projects,” said Padidar.Khuzestan to Launch Petchem SaleAli Mazaheri, CEO of Petrochemical KALA Company (PKC), announced the startup of the largest industrial shopping center for Iranian petrochemical commodities in Khuzestan Province. He said that PKC had signed an agreement with the Society of Iranian Petroleum Industry Equipment Manufacturers (SIPIEM) for the latter to account for the domestic manufacturing of items needed at petrochemical plants and their supply in the shortest possible time. Mazaheri said the industrial shopping center would be launched in Mahshahr, a strategic zone known as the heart of Iran’s petrochemical industry.The KPC-SIPIEM agreement would end Iran’s dependence on imports and empower domestic manufacturers to supply national needs. “Effective steps have so far been taken for the implementation of the project, including warehousing and transportation. However, effective interaction with manufacturers is essential,” said Mazaheri.“KPC has always supplied the needs of petrochemical manufacturers and the company has so far identified the mostly consumed items of petrochemical plants,” he said. Mazaheri expressed hope that about 80 main products would be stockpiled in the warehouses in one year. Petrochemical plants depend on imports for their raw materials. That is while due to international sanctions and restrictions, the purchase of equipment from abroad has become problematic. Prior to the imposition of the sanctions, KPC was an importer of spare parts from European companies. But now thanks to reserve engineering, it is possible to develop many of such spare parts.110 European SMEs Eye Iran OilReza Khayamian, CEO of SIPIEM, said 110 European SMEs were ready to operate oil and gas projects in Iran.“The Europeans’ participation in the petroleum industry development projects needs the full launch of the special purpose vehicle (SPV) between Iran and Europe,” he said.Referring to US unlawful and unilateral sanctions on Iran, he said: “Definitely, major oil companies like Shell, Total and BP, whose stocks are held by American companies, could not easily work in Iran amid US sanctions. Therefore, Iran’s oil and gas industry should not depend on major international companies.”“The best thing we can currently do and for which a proposal has been submitted to the presidential office is to let Iranian and European SMEs jointly operate oil and gas projects,” Khayamian said.“Talks have already been held with the European Union’s Energy Commissioner. Once SVP has been launched, European SMEs with no interest in the US would be ready to invest in Iran’s oil and gas projects. Big companies can place orders with SMEs and we can directly engage with small-sized companies,” he added.