Addressing the 13th Iran Petrochemical Forum (IPF-2017) here in Tehran on Saturday, the official said investment in the petrochemical industry can generate a huge number of direct and indirect jobs.
He said Iran raised its annual petrochemical production by 8 million tons under President Hassan Rouhani, adding the growth was accumulative.
Zangeneh said during the second leap in petrochemical industry, the National Petrochemical Company (NPC) will serve as the caretaker of the sector by providing infrastructure and identification of areas suitable for erecting new petrochemical facilities.
He said there is no other country like Iran in supplying feedstock to petrochemical facilities.
The official said the Iranian Ministry of Petroleum is keen on materializing the second leap in petrochemical industry in the country.
"The future of the petrochemical industry, given the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), will be pretty bright," he said.
The official lauded the petrochemical sector as a leading industry for ensuring economic growth, saying production of petrochemicals grew by 8 million tons annually in the last year before end of President Rouhani's first term in office.
He said Iran has the greatest feedstock bulk to offer to petrochemical plants and figures do confirm this claim.
"Iran sits atop the world's biggest natural gas and 4th crude oil reserves in the world," the official added.
The official further said Iran would need to tap foreign direct investments in order to materialize 40 billion dollars of projects it has defined under the 6th five-year development plan.
Zangeneh also voiced the administration's support for private sector investors in the petrochemical sector, saying long-term tax exemptions and other incentives await investors in the sector.