It is expected that the abolition of the American sanctions on Syria will be the beginning of a new era of the war that destroyed the war for 13 years, and that it will open the way for the influx of Syrians abroad and from Turkey and countries in the Gulf support the new government.
Reuters quoted the Syrian businessmen, finance minister and analysts, as they expect capital to flow to the thirsty economy as soon as the sanctions are dropped, according to President Donald Trump’s sudden announcement, despite many challenges still faces the state.
Investment plans
The Syrian businessman, billionaire, Ghassan Abboud, said that he is making plans for investment, and it is expected that there are other Syrians who have international trade relations who are also thinking about this.
“They were afraid to come and work in Syria because of the dangers of sanctions … This will completely disappear now,” added the man who lives in the Emirates.
“I plan, of course, to enter the market for two reasons:
- First: I want to help the country recover in any possible way.
- Second: There is fertile land, so any seed is placed today may generate a good profit margin.
Abboud presented a plan for billions of dollars to support art, culture and education in Syria.
The sanctions may be raised radically in the path of the new Syrian administration, which adopted the free market policies and moved away from the state planning model that the Assad family followed in five decades of its rule.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sku_id6wx-o
The United States and other Western forces imposed severe sanctions on Syria during the war that broke out due to the protests against Bashar al -Assad’s rule in 2011.
Washington kept these sanctions after the overthrow of the Assad regime last December, while formulating its policy towards Syria and monitoring the actions of the new administration led by President Ahmed al -Shara.
Saudi Arabia and Turkey urged Washington to drop the sanctions, and the Saudi Foreign Minister said that investment opportunities will multiply as soon as this happens.
UN agencies say more than 90% of the 23 million Syrians live below the poverty line.
A real opportunity
“There is a real opportunity to make a fundamental change in Syria and the wider region,” says the prominent strategic analyst of sovereign assets in the emerging markets of RBC Bloops Asset Management.
Honor Gensh, CEO of the BPV Group, said that the Grante Bank, the second largest private bank in Turkey, said that Turkish companies and banks are expected to benefit from dropping sanctions.
He added: “For Turkey, it will be positive because there is a need for many reconstruction operations in Syria. Who does this? Turkish companies.”
“The dropping of sanctions for Turkish companies will allow going there now much better, and Turkish banks will be able to finance them, and this will support it,” he said.
Official Syrian data reported by the World Bank in 2024 showed that the Syrian economy decreased to more than half between 2010 and 2021, but the bank said, this is more likely less than reality.
Opportunities in all fields
The value of the Syrian pound has increased since Trump’s announcement. Traders said that the currency amounted to about 9,600 for dollars in the latest transactions, compared to 12 thousand and 600 dollars earlier this week, and before the war in 2011, the dollar was equivalent to 47 Syrian pounds.
Syrian Finance Minister Mohamed Youser Burniyah said that investors from the UAE, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and other countries have provided inquiries about investment.
Burniyah added: “Syria today is the land of opportunities, and there are huge potential potentials in all sectors, from agriculture to oil, tourism, infrastructure and transportation.”
“We call on all investors to seize this opportunity,” he said.
For his part, the Director General of the Bank of Shahba Bank, Charity Bechara, said, “It is wonderful to exceed the perception.
Jihad Yazji, a journalist, founder and editor -in -chief of the “Syrian report”, said the US decision is that the US decision is a fundamental shift because it conveyed a “very strong political message” and opened the way for the return of integration with the Gulf and international financial organizations and the large number of Syrians in the West.
Lebanese investor, Imad Al -Khatib, said that he accelerated his plan to invest in Syria after Trump’s announcement.
Al -Khatib cooperated with Lebanese and Syrian partners in conducting a feasibility study to establish a waste sorting factory in Damascus, with a value of 200 million dollars, and yesterday sent a team of specialists to Syria to start preparations.
“This is the first step … will be followed by greater steps, God willing, and we will definitely attract new investors because Syria is much greater than Lebanon,” he said.
