A one-day seminar was held in Paris, France on 23 September 2004 to highlight business opportunities with NPC. Some 100 participants, from a broad spectrum of sectors including engineering and contracting companies, banks, financial and insurance companies as well as governmental agencies attended the seminar. In his address to the seminar, Iranian deputy petroleum minister, M. R. Nematzadeh provided updated information on the company's status quo and its future plans, pointing to opportunities available for collaboration between French companies and NPC. During his stay in Paris, Nematzadeh held talks with a number of French officials including minister of industry Patrick Devedjian; chairman of the IFP, Oliver Appert; director general of the Foreign Trade Department of French Trade Ministry, Pierre Moraillon and executive director, International Energy Agency, Claude Mandil. He also met officials from Cofas, Technip, Atofina, Calyon, Societe General, Ronald Berger and discussed bilateral relations