Iran has started the construction of a cement plant with a daily capacity of 3500t in Rafsanjan, in the eastern province of Kerman.  The construction is financed by the private sector with 80bn Iranian rials (US$9.5m).  The plant will create 400 direct and 10,000 indirect jobs, member of Parliament Ali Hashemi told the opening of the construction.  He added that the private sector alone was not capable of setting up industrial enterprises in the country and needs the support of the Government, which should use part of its currency reserves to aid private investments.  Rafsanjan has a development potential as it will become the crossing point of the railroads Bafq - Bandar Abbas and Zahedan - Kerman under a recently adopted project, Hashemi said.  Iran’s annual cement output currently stands at 30Mt. State companies currently account for 15 per cent of the country’s total cement output. Published under Cement News