Private sector reaches out to Syria

The UAE’s private sector is exploring new partnerships with the business community in war-torn Syria as some Arab states re-establish diplomatic ties with the country.

The UAE Federation of the Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the Abu Dhabi Chamber yesterday launched the UAE-Syria Private Sector Forum, a move aimed at initiating discussions for potential investment between UAE businesses and their Syrian counterparts across sectors including in infrastructure, agriculture, tourism, logistics and renewable energy, state-run news agency Wam reported.

Mohammed Murshid Al Rumaithi, the chairman of the federation, highlighted the UAE business community’s interest in investment opportunities in Syria’s private sector. The forum, he said, brought together Emirati and Syrian businesspeople in support of burgeoning partnerships.

Mohamed Hamsho, head of the Syrian trade delegation and the secretary-general of the Federation of Syrian Chambers of Commerce, invited UAE private sector organisations to explore partnerships as the country looks for foreign investors to commence rebuilding.

The UAE at the end of December announced the reopening of its embassy in Damascus in a sign of thawing relations between the Syrian government and the Arab world after years of diplomatic isolation. The Emirates closed its embassy in the early phases of the conflict.

The resumption of diplomatic ties is the latest sign that President Bashar Al Assad has emerged battered but not defeated from a war in which more than 500,000 Syrians are estimated to have died.