Economic news in brief (April 25)

Golestan Rural Water & Sewage Co. receives ISO 9001

GORGAN, Golestan Prov. — Rural Water and Sewage Company of northern Golestan Province managed to receive the international certification of ISO 9001, Habibollah Kaboli, an official in the company said on Tuesday.

He explained that designing the system was launched on March 2004 and its documents were sent to the Italian IMQ Company for the final auditing on November 2005.

The documents were approved by the Italian company and the certification was issued on March 2006, he further explained. It has been recently sent to the company, he added.

Iran to be self-sufficient in agriculture production by end of 4DV

MASHHAD, Khorasan Razavi Prov. — Minister of Agricultural Jihad Mohammad-Reza Eskandari told the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) the country would attain self-sufficiency in production of the agricultural products by the end of the Fourth Development Plan (2005-2010).

However, the self-sufficiency in production of the oil seeds would be 70 percent, he added.

The minister also predicted that planning would be made to obtain self-sufficiency in barley production in the current Iranian year (started March 21, 2006) along with making efforts to continue wheat self-sufficiency.

First unit of Parand Power Plant commissioned

TEHRAN — The first unit of Parand Power Plant was synchronized with the national power grid last week.

The unit enjoys the production capacity of 157.5 MW of electricity.

Having six 159-MW units, Parand Power Plant is being constructed in a land area as large as 55 ha.

MAPNA Company as the main contractor and Qods Niroo Company as the consulter are jointly implementing the construction project of this power plant.

Gas and diesel are used as the main and substitute fuels respectively. To utilize the latter, two 20,000 cu. m reservoirs have been constructed in the power plant.

Private sector to build thermal power plant in Khuzestan

AHVAZ, Khuzestan Prov.— Abdolaziz Karimi, the managing director of Khuzestan Regional Electricity Company on Tuesday announced construction operation of a thermal power plant with the capacity of 1000 MW has been launched in Omidiyeh.

He noted that the power plant is being constructed by the private sector on the BOO (build-own-operate) basis, and is to be completed in the next three years.

He further said that operation of this power plant will increase the province’s total thermal capacity to 3800 MW.

Iran to purchase 6 Airbus aircraft: Iran Air chief

TEHRAN – The national flag carrier Iran Air is negotiating with foreign companies to buy six Airbus aircraft, the company’s managing director told ILNA Tuesday.

Saeed Hesami said that the Government had pledged to provide his company with a 250-million-dollar aid from the Forex Reserve Fund (FRF). However, he said that the success of their talks over aircraft purchase would depend on the conditions offered by the sellers. “For instance, we had preferred not to purchase MD-90 aircraft from a Chinese company due to high recommended prices,” the Iran Air director stated.

Cuban official praises Iran’s railroad construction capabilities

ARAK, Markazi Prov. – Cuba likes to be given access to Iran’s experience in railroad construction industry, said a deputy Transport Minister of the Latin American country.

Visiting the Wagon Pars factory in Arak on Monday, Roberto Ricardo Marrero stated that they have signed a deal during the Iran-Cuba Economic Commission meeting in Tehran according to which the Wagon Pars Co. would sell them 500 wagons for 135 million euros. “All wagons will be delivered in a year,” he said, pointing out that the time of delivery is important to them ‘as the Cuban government aims to reduce energy consumption in the country by developing the transportation system’. Iran-Cuba railroad-related trade has now reached €155 million, Marrero noted. Wagon Pars Co. has also signed a $35 million contract with Sudan and a $14 million contract with China.

Iranian ambassador meets Jordanian tradesmen

TEHRAN – The Iranian ambassador to Amman Mohammad Irani met on Tuesday with head of the Jordanian Businessmen Association Hamdi Tabbaa.

Both stressed the need for expansion of industrial and trade ties. “We are keen to attract more Iranian investors,” the Jordanian official added, inviting Iranian businessmen and industrialists to visit this Arab state and explore their favorite investment opportunities here. The Iranian Chamber of Commerce, Industries, and Mines (ICCIM) signed a memorandum of understanding with the JBA in 1999. Last year, Iran exported some $23.4 million of dried fruits, Persian carpets, and transportation equipments to Jordan and imported $37 million of fertilizers like potash and phosphate from this country.

FK/ER

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MNA