Seyed Ahmadreza Alaei, speaking to local media, said the fund focuses
its investments on key areas of the petrochemical industry, including polymers,
chemicals, renewable energy, environmental technologies, and industrial
digitalization.
“Through partnerships with universities and affiliated science and
technology parks, we are mobilizing the country’s technological capabilities to
address the challenges facing the petrochemical industry,” Alaei said.
Since the beginning of the year, the fund has signed memoranda of understanding
with Sharif University of Technology, Khorasan Science and Technology Park,
Isfahan Science and Research Town, and the University of Tehran. Agreements
with Persian Gulf University in Bushehr and Shahid Chamran University in Ahvaz
are expected soon, creating a nationwide network connecting academia with the
petrochemical sector.
Alaei highlighted the fund’s special focus on artificial intelligence
and Industry 4.0 technologies. The fund recently signed a contract to establish
an AI innovation center and laboratory at the University of Tehran, marking its
first investment package designed to promote AI applications in the
petrochemical industry.
He also emphasized the fund’s direct engagement with subsidiaries of
the Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company (PGPIC). “Our mission is to
identify and solve technological challenges within the holding’s companies.
They communicate their needs to the fund, and we leverage research teams and
knowledge-based companies to address them,” Alaei said. He noted that this
approach is helping shift research projects toward practical applications and
commercialization in the industry.