Tehran plays host to the fifth international Iran Petrochemical Forum (IPF 2003) on 17-18 May 2003. Drawing a large number of participants from both local and foreign countries, the Forum, which is entitled Summit 2003, opens work at the IRIB International Conferences Center.
The event, organized the National Petrochemical Company (NPC) in collaboration with IICIC, officially opens by the Iranian petroleum minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh's speech. Several other senior Iranian government officials address IPF including Seyed Mohammad Hossein Adeli, deputy foreign minister for economic affairs, Akbar Toran, deputy petroleum minister for planning, deputy petroleum minister for petrochemicals and NPC president Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh. The proceedings consist of eight sessions.
Several leading international companies will address IPF 2003 including Sabic, IFP, Basell, Sasol, Lurgi, UHDE, BP Chemicals, Shell, Sued Chemie, Ammonia Casale, Chematur, Hansa Chemie and Nexant who also address the Forum. Officials from the Germany's Federal Ministry of Labor, Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and UK's ECGD deliver speech to the gathering.
Topics on the Forum's agenda are some of the major issues facing the petrochemical industry such as the industry's challenges and strategies, petrochemical feedstocks and joint projects, marketing of products, finance and development of the petrochemical industry, research and technology development, feedstock and regional competitiveness, impact of the natural gas on the future of the industry. The IPF Chairman, Mohammad Hassan Peyvandi who is also NPC's planning and development director, believes the Forum is "an integral part of the NPC's development process." He says, "IPF focuses not only on the relative advantages of the Iranian petrochemical industry but also on those of the Middle East. Peyvandi says among other things, the gathering also "promotes and fosters cooperation among regional petrochemical players in the Middle East which is particularly perceivable in the growing ties between Iran, Saudi Arabia and Qatar."
On the sidelines of the Forum, an exhibition is held in the same venue where companies active in oil, gas and petrochemical can exhibit their services and products.
The two-day event is followed by a day trip to either Bandar Imam which is home to Iran's Petrochemical Special Economic Zone where NPC is developing several grassroots petrochemical projects, or the ancient cities of Shiraz and Esfahan where visitors can experience a taste of the glory and magnificence of Iran's cultural heritage.
IPF 2003 is sponsored by Shell, Total Fina Elf, Basell, Axens, Linde, Lurgi, Technicas Reunidas, Uhde and Nargan. Its media sponsors include Platts, Asian Chemical News (CAN), European Chemical News (ECN), MEES and Argus Media.