Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – June 9, 1997

[Mr. Abulqasem Rouhi, Hossein Sharifi, Mohammadreza Khabaz and Gholamreza Shirazian], representatives of Sari, Arak, Kashmir and Mashhad came and asked for their constituencies. The governors of Kashmir, Bardskan, and [Mr. Abbas Amiripour], the mayor of Mashhad, were also there. In the evening, the Supreme Economic Council had a meeting; With several resolutions, including raising the freight rate on the railway by 20%.

We flew to Bandar Abbas. After the welcome ceremony, we flew to Al Mahdi Aluminum Factory. Mr. [Hossein] Mahlouji, [Minister of Mines and Metals], [Mohammedreza] Nematzadeh, [Minister of Industries], [Hamid] Mirzadeh, [Head of the Program and Budget Organization], Mohsen, Mahdi, Yaser, Efat, and Fati were also present. We arrived near dusk. We visited different parts of the factory, including the power station and the production hall, and the parts of the facilities, including the boilers and purification, the control room, and we saw how to feed the melting boilers and remove the aluminum melt; 240 boilers in one hall in two lines; It has a magnificent view.

After the prayer, during the opening ceremony, we heard Mr. Mahluji's explanation. The first phase was opened with a capacity of 110 thousand tons and the other two phases will be implemented later. For the production of each ton on a global scale, 7 thousand dollars are invested, which in Iran, due to domestic production, the amount of 2 thousand foreign currency dollars and 500 billion rials has been spent.

The commissioning ceremony of 308 telecommunication projects with 45 billion Tomans and the plan to transfer water to Hormuz Island through the pipeline below and on the sea floor were also officially opened. After the report of the Ministry of Energy and Telecommunications, I spoke about all three issues, especially the importance of the role of aluminum in human life, as the third metal, and the importance of domestic manufacturing power.

Then, we went to Shahid Rajaei Port for the ceremony of starting the use of domestically made heavy cranes. It is very magnificent and important. The view of the port and the modern equipment that has been established in recent years and increased the capacity from 13 million tons to 30 million tons are interesting. We had dinner and rest in the same port. At twelve o'clock at night, I got the news and slept.