RP welcomes Iran‘s $100-M investment in petrochem sector

The Philippines welcomed yesterday the first major investment of Iran, a joint venture worth $100 million in the petrochemicals sector, as the government expressed optimism that Tehran will also invest in shipbuilding and ship repair in Mindanao, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said.

The $100-million petrochemicals joint venture agreement was signed recently and witnessed by Iran’s Deputy Petroleum Minister Gholamreza Nematzadeh during his visit in Manila.

A Philippine delegation headed by Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Administration Franklin Ebdalin also held bilateral talks in Tehran last week with Mr. Mehdi Safari, Deputy Foreign Minister for Asia Pacific and Commonwealth of Independent State Affairs, who led the Iranian delegation composed of Ambassador Nematollah Izadi, director general for East Asia and Pacific, and Mehdi Honardost, director of the First East Asia Department of the Iranian Foreign Ministry.

The Philippine delegation was composed of Assistant Secretary for Middle East and African Affairs Norberto Basilio, Director Alex Lamadrid and Philippine Charge d’Affaires in Tehran Renato Duenas.

Manila and Tehran characterized RP-Iran bilateral relations as excellent, with no contentious issues between them.

On economic cooperation, Ebdalin said that both sides agreed that there was room for further expansion of bilateral trade and investment.

While total bilateral trade reached more than $800 million in 2004, the Philippine delegation noted that most of this was due to Iran’s oil exports to the Philippines.

The Philippine delegation urged Iran to consider sourcing consumer products from the Philippines in order to redress the trade imbalance, and welcomed the substantial increase in Iran’s imports of bananas from the Philippines.

Manila also urged Tehran to consider investing in other sectors, such as shipbuilding and ship repair in Mindanao.

The two sides had a fruitful exchange of views on cooperation in the UN and other international organizations, including the issues on human rights, campaign against terrorism, and peaceful use of nuclear technology. The Philippines expressed its appreciation for Iran’s staunch support to the Philippine bid for Observer status in the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC).