Speaking to
NIPNA, Majid Mohammadpour said efforts were needed to wean the economy off
petrodollars and move towards bolstering non-oil exports which would be
possible by supporting the petrochemical industry.
“It seems
that replacing oil revenues with other sources of hard currency must be
considered as a principle in the country and empowering the petrochemical sector
as a source of hard currency could be a great method to do so,” he said.
The official
said the experience of sanctions in recent years showed that Iran needed to
distance itself from merely exporting crude oil and instead develop petrochemicals
facilities in order to produce value-added items.
He further
said that the private sector needed to be supported to step in and become more
instrumental in the economy.