Massive hurdles exist in rebuilding leveled cities

DAMASCUS, Syria — With back-to-back trade fairs held in Damascus this month, Syria is hoping to jump-start reconstruction of its devastated cities by inviting international investors to take part in lucrative opportunities.

But the absence of significant Western participants, the challenges posed by international sanctions and the lack of a political solution to the seven-yearold conflict point to massive hurdles ahead.

The government says it will award contracts only to “friendly countries” that have supported Syria throughout the civil war. In an address to the U.N. General Assembly last week, Syria’s foreign minister said Western countries that set political conditions before committing reconstruction funds are “neither invited nor welcome to help.”

But the relatively small-scale participation of companies from Syria’s allies, Russia and Iran — both under U.S. sanctions — can hardly even begin to cover the enormous reconstruction costs in Syria, estimated to be anywhere between $250 billion and $400 billion. A U.N. agency estimates the war has cost $388 billion, and Syria says it needs $48 billion in shortterm investments for the housing sector alone.

Around half of Syria’s prewar population of 23 million has been uprooted — nearly 6 million fled abroad, while 6.6 million are displaced within Syria — and entire cities lay in ruins, their infrastructure decimated.

Syrian officials say that with the government’s military gains over the past year, it’s now time to focus on rebuilding. The government now holds just over 60 percent of Syria’s territory, with the north largely controlled by U.S.-backed and Kurdish-led forces, opposition fighters allied with Turkey, and insurgent groups.

“The process of eradicating terrorism has reached its final stages, and the reconstruction phase is knocking on the doors,” Public Works and Housing Minister Hussein Arnous said Tuesday, after a ribbon-cutting ceremony inaugurating the 4th International Trade Exhibition for Rebuilding Syria.

Arnous said 270 companies from 29 countries are taking part in this year’s exhibition despite the sanctions imposed on Syrian.

Most of the companies participating in the four-day exhibition are Syrian, followed by Lebanese and Iranian exhibitors.