TEHRAN, April 17 (Shana) �- Iran saw its petrochemical sector raise its efficiency by 4% during the previous Iranian calendar year which ended on March 19, a senior petrochemical official said.

Addressing a petroleum conference here in Tehran on Saturday, Marziyeh Shahdaei, deputy petroleum minister in petrochemical affairs, said the rise in yield is a manifestation of materialization of Resistive Economy in the country's petrochemical sector.

Resistive or resistant economy, instructed by the Supreme Leader, is a long term policy aimed at localizing development theories.

She further underlined the petrochemical industry of Iran as a manifestation of the economy.

"The petrochemical sector turns raw materials to highly value-added, exportable items and several key steps have been taken in Iran to complete the sector's value chain as required by the economy of resistance," Shahdaei added.

The official, who is also managing director of the National Petrochemical Company (NPC), added that the company is moving in line with articles of the 6th 5-year development plan by making the most out of domestic capabilities and reducing the country's dependency on foreign sources.

She said some of the NPC strategies in optimization of energy use in petrochemical plants has led to saving $4.6b of gas consumption in the plants.

By SHANA