Tehran to Host Conference On Electronic Industry

By Reza Abesh Ahmadlou
and Leila Imani

For the first time a conference will be held by the Iran Electronic Research Center on planning and policymaking for the electronic industry.
The conference themed “Supervision Over Electronic Industry and Technology, Domestic Production and Strategies for Supporting It” will be held on Feb. 20.
The conference aims at reviewing the electronic industry of the country, identifying related problems and presenting strategies for development of the industry with respect to the high technological potential of the country’s universities.
Seeking the viewpoints of experts about the strategic plans drawn up by the Industry, Mine and Trade Ministry is among other objectives which will be pursued by the conference.
The conference will have five special panels including: Electronic in Automobile Industry and Transportation; Electric and Electronic Medical Equipment; Telecommunication and Information Technology; Electronic in Defense and Aerospace Industries; and Planning, Policymaking and Financing Electronic Industry.
Related officials, unions, syndicates, associations, private sector’s companies, policymakers and university professors will participate in each panel.
An exhibition of the electronic products, made by private sector companies, will be held on the sideline of the conference.

Qeshm Island to Become Persian Gulf’s Economic Hub

Domestic Economy Desk

By implementing development plans in the fields of tourism, industry, sea and foreign economy, Qeshm Island will become the economic hub of the Persian Gulf in the near future, said the managing director of Qeshm Free Trade Zone (QFTZ).
Esfandiar Heydaripour said QFTZ’s economic security and infrastructures have improved in recent years, adding a number of 5 star hotels are also being constructed in the zone, IRNA reported.
He said Qeshm Island boasts of an area 2 times and 2.5 times as vast as Singapore and Bahrain respectively and will possess a high status in the region.
Referring to the first phase of the project to launch Shahid Zakeri port in Qeshm Island, he said the plan was implemented in 18 months and construction of its multipurpose small ports took about 8-10 months.
“In this phase, the pier’s pond with an area of 7.5 hectares, 300 meters of the eastern arm of breakwater and 3 floating piers were constructed and installed. Once the construction of the pier will be completed, 6 watercrafts each with the capacity of carrying 50-250 passengers will be able to harbor at it.”
The second phase of the development project of Shahid Zakeri port will include developing the western arm of the breakwater and increasing the number of passenger floating piers, he said.
Heydaripour added 8,000 passengers are transferred from Bandar Abbas, Hormuzgan province to Qeshm Island per day.
He said Qeshm is known as the island of oil, energy and petrochemicals. “The project to supply water to the island via underwater pipes is among the other developmental plans of the zone which has seen a physical progress of 90 percent and will come on stream by yearend.”
He reiterated that the island with a population of 105,000 people will need 500 liters of water per second. “To provide the island with the water it needs, some 91 kilometers of onshore and offshore pipes should be laid.”
He expressed satisfaction with the diversity of investment in the island and said the infrastructures are ready to develop international shipping lines.
In December, South Korean Ambassador to Tehran in a meeting with Heydaripour said Qeshm Island will turn into the best investment-friendly region of Iran.
Song Woong-Yeob referred to the exceptional geographical location of Qeshm and said the island is expected to make significant improvement in the future.
Heydaripour, for his part, said that QFTZ is prepared to cooperate with one of South Korean free zones.
“QFTZ has 17 oil and gas fields which has caused the island to become the energy hub of Iran,” he said.
The first five-star hotel on Qeshm will become operational soon, and 20 hotels and tourism villages are expected to be established as well.

Egg Output Above Demand

Domestic Economy Desk

There is surplus egg production across the country, said managing director of Union of Poultry Breeders.
Hedayat Asghari estimated that close to 85,000 tons of egg would be produced per month, while domestic demand stands at 65,000 tons per month, Fars News Agency wrote.
Iran exports eggs to Iraq, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Kuwait, he said.
Based on an agreement between Ministry of Industries and the Union of Poultry Breeders, egg exports with monthly ceiling of 7,500 tons would continue provided that the price for domestic consumer does not exceed 37000 rials per kilogram, he added.
Some 900,000 tons of egg have been produced in Iran since the beginning of current year (March 21, 2012), said Asghari in January.
He said that the figure is expected to reach 930,000 tons by the end of the current Iranian year which shows an increase of 5 percent compared to the figure for the past year which was 870,000 tons.
He added that the per capita egg consumption of the country was 10 kg in the past year adding that with respect to an increase in the egg production, the figure is expected to reach 12 kg in the current year.
He put the surplus egg production of the country at 100,000 tons annually, and said some 11,128 tons of egg were exported during Nov. 21.,2012- Jan. 19, 2013.
Secretary of National Egg Promotion Headquarters Farzad Talakesh said in October that Iran ranks 10th worldwide in terms of egg production and produces over 750,000 tons of eggs annually.
Iranians celebrate the World Egg Day annually to increase per capita egg consumption in the country.
“The headquarters was launched in cooperation with several organizations and ministries, including the Health Ministry, Agricultural Jihad Ministry, Veterinarian Organization, Education Ministry, TV Broadcasting and the Association of Egg,” Talakesh said.
He urged people to add eggs to their daily diet of Iranians, saying that Iranians are marking the World Egg Day under the slogan “An Egg a Day for Every Healthy Person”.

Non-Oil Exports to Exceed $50b by Yearend

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Iran’s non-oil exports to ECO member states increased by 17 percent in weight and 32 percent in value in the eight months of the current year (March 20-November 20) compared with last year’s corresponding period,” Hosseini said, addressing a meeting in Tehran.
He added that ECO is a large regional organization which accounts for 5 percent of the world’s area and 6 percent of the global population.
“We have exported more than 7.68 million tons of non-oil goods worth $2 billion to ECO countries,” Hosseini said.
In December, Head of Iran’s Customs Office Abbas Memarnejad said that the value of Iran’s non-oil trade with the outside world exceeded $71 billion during the nine months of the current.
Memarnejad said Iran exported about $31 billion worth of non-oil goods and imported approximately $40.2 billion worth of non-oil products in the said period.
Iron and steel ingots, wheat, corn fodder, and soybean meal were the main commodities imported, while liquefied propane, urea, and cement were the main goods exported, the official said.
Memarnejad also said that Iraq, China, the United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, and India were the main importers of Iranian non-oil goods.
Senior Iranian officials have underlined Tehran’s intention to further reduce its dependence on oil revenues, and said the country is exporting its non-oil products to over 151 states.

High Mineral Potentials for Yazd

Domestic Economy Desk

Yazd is considered as one of provinces with huge potentials in terms of mining, ingots, concentrates and artificial stones, said deputy minister of industries, mines, and commerce.
Vajihollah Jafari added that the country’s production capacity of mines stood at 3.1 million tons before 1979 Islamic Revolution, and that the figure has raised to 20 million tons, IRNA reported.
He said before the revolution, there were only six glass factories with production capacity of 215,000 tons across the country. “Currently, glass production capacity has increased to 1.6 million tons.”
Jafari added that a tile production unit has also been inaugurated in Ardakan. “Iran has high capacity in terms of producing tile. It ranks fourth worldwide in terms of capacity and fifth in terms of production.”
The official continued saying that six tile production units are under construction. “Once they become operational, the country’s capacity for producing tile and ceramics would rise to 16 million tons.” After India, Iran is second producer of sponge iron worldwide, he added.

Iron Ore Extraction

Some 25.451 million tons of iron ore was extracted during March 20, 2012- January 19, 2013, which shows a 9.6-percent rise comparing the figure for preceding year.

Hydrocarbon Reserves At 157b Barrels

Oil Minister Rostam Qassemi announced on Sunday that Iran’s hydrocarbon reserves have increased by 3 billion barrels due to the discovery of new oil fields in the country.
“The planning for some new oil fields is complete and fortunately the country’s exploitable hydrocarbon reserves have increased to 157 billion barrels,” Qassemi said, Fars News Agency reported.
Last month, Deputy Oil Minister for Planning and Supervision on Hydrocarbon Reserves Mohsen Khojasteh Mehr said the country owns 330 hydrocarbon reservoirs that should be managed by deploying new techniques and scientific methods amid having in mind an evolution in oil industry through enforcing new techniques of enhancing oil recovery.
Stressing on necessity of institutionalizing using scientific models for preserving oil and gas reserves in the country, Khojasteh Mehr said all the oil and gas fields of the county should have an especial identification for enhancing recovery adding the 85 years old techniques need revision.
During the Fifth Five Year Development Plan, 57 oil fields received development plan and were authorized for investment, a positive point that will spur growth and development in Iran’s oil industry, the official said.

Glass Output Up

Domestic Economy Desk

Some 830,000 tons of glasses were produced during the ten months of current Iranian year (started March 20, 2012), showing an increase of 8.2 percent compared to the figure for the corresponding period of preceding year.
Some 366,000 tons of glassware, 71,600 tons of sanitary appliances, and 37,800 tons of chinaware were produced in the country during the period, IRNA reported.
It said that some 87,000 tons of glasses were produced during Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 19, 2013, showing an increase of 2.4 percent compared to the figure for the same period of the past year.
In order to increase the capacity of glass production, Ardakan Glass Factory in Yazd province started operation in the presence of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Saturday.
The plant, the third largest in the world after the US and China for the type of its products, is capable of producing pure glass with a diameter of 19 millimeters (mm).