Addressing a
signing ceremony on Wednesday, Deputy Petroleum Minister for Engineering and
Technology Affairs Habibollah Bitaraf said: “The petrochemical industry, as a
leading industry with high returns, fast return on investment, and generation
of jobs and value, has a high share in the country’s gross domestic product and
exports. Therefore, it needs to move towards self-sufficiency for growth and
development.”
The ceremony was
held so as to sign a deal by Petrochemical Research and Technology Company (PRTC)
and Shazand Petrochemical Company for commercialized production of SAC 500
catalyst used for producing different grades of heavy-density polyethylene.
Bitaraf said
signature of the document is in line with the objectives of the economy of
resilience and the Islamic establishment of Iran.
"Acting
in the realm of applied research needed in the industry is one of the prerequisites
of development; and one of the missions of research institutes is to build a
commercially viable research sample and the research units of the oil industry enjoy
this capability, and the activities of the PRTC is laudable in this regard,” he
added.
"The
industry has to be compared and evaluated with world standards given its size
and progress in recent years,” he added. “South Korea currently has the largest
investment of about 4.2 percent of its gross national product on R&D
activities, and I suggest that the petrochemical industry spends 2 to 3 percent
of its annual revenue on research; the National Petrochemical Company (NPC) as
the leader of the sectors shall step in this direction so that the country achieves
self-sufficiency in catalyst production in the next few years.”
He called on
the Petrochemical Research and Technology Company to take advantage of the research
capabilities of universities, adding R&D plays an important role in the
industrial sector, and the life of any industrial depends on whether it is up-to-date
or not.