Survey of the Competitiveness of the Iranian Petrochemical Industry in the Threshold of Joining WTO: Selected Products

Abstract One of the specific aspects of our time is the existence of World Trade Organization as an important international center. This organization regulates the commercial laws among the countries, and tries to provide a suitable environment for trade by eliminating the subsidies using protection policies and making a better condition for competition. In order to achieve this objective, the economic sectors of countries should move towards the production of commodities which show the comparative advantages. In order to analyze the economic potential of Iran, those fields which have comparative advantage should be recognized. One of the driving factors of comparative advantage for the Iranian petrochemical industry is oil and gas resources availability. In this research, the competitive capability, comparative advantage, as well as protection policies of selected petrochemical productions are analyzed by using Policy Analysis Matrix (PAM method).