Esmaeil Qambari, managing director of Petrochemical Research and Technology Company, told reporters on Monday that the company is in talks with companies from Germany, France, Norway and Japan to purchase petrochemical technologies from them.

"In the latest development, we have held talks with Air Liquide for scientific partnership for development of a 500,000-ton Propylene via Methanol (PVM) plant," he said.

Ghambari said his company has developed a new model for its cooperation with foreign firms, saying, "Purchasing foreign technologies will take place only foreign technologies are transferred to and localized in Iran."

He said the new model will reduce sale of crude oil, generate jobs, link upstream sector to downstream and petrochemical sectors and generate valued added in the industry.

He further said the company launched the first PVM pilot plant in Mahshahr during the first half of the current year and has gained permission to build an industrial unit with the capacity of 120,000 tons in the region.