The UAE and Syria convened their first bilateral business forum in Damascus on Sunday, with a large Emirati delegation of officials and businessmen arriving in the Syrian capital for the first time since the fall of the regime of Bashar Al Assad.
The UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade, Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi, said the forum aims to “crystallise joint projects based on mutual interests” across investment and commercial sectors. Humaid Mohamed Ben Salem, Secretary General of the UAE Chambers, said Syria's investment legislation was now in place and that Emirati corporate interest in partnerships in Syria was “very high.” Syrian President Ahmad Al Shara is scheduled to attend on Tuesday.
The forum comes at a critical juncture in Syria's reintegration into the global economic system. The US removed its Syria sanctions programme by executive order in July 2025, and Congress repealed the Caesar Act in December. The EU lifted economic sanctions in May 2025. Syria's central bank is now pursuing a sovereign credit rating for the first time, enabling its entry to international capital markets.
Syria is moving fast to reintegrate itself into the global financial system. Visa and Mastercard resumed card processing in Syria last week after a 15-year absence, with Qatar National Bank activating services within days. The UAE’s DP World signed a 30-year agreement to manage the port of Tartous, pledging $800 million in modernisation investment. Sharjah's Dana Gas also signed a preliminary deal with the Syrian Petroleum Company to redevelop gasfields near Homs.
Damascus has since reconnected with the IMF and World Bank, is attracting investment from the Gulf and Turkey, has begun reconnecting with the Swift network, and in March reactivated its account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York for the first time since 2011.
The World Bank estimates reconstruction will cost around $216 billion – approximately 10 times Syria's 2024 gross domestic product. The country’s infrastructure incurred the heaviest damage, accounting for nearly half of the $108 billion in destruction.
Syria is also looking to revive its energy industry with Gulf assistance. Before the civil war, Syria produced 380,000 barrels of oil per day and 900 million cubic feet of gas daily, making it the Mediterranean's only significant crude producer. Output fell by around 80 per cent during the war. The Ministry of Energy is seeking more than $30 billion to rehabilitate the oil, gas, electricity and water sectors. Syria received $28 billion in Gulf investment across all sectors in 2025, after amending its foreign investment law to permit full foreign ownership of projects.
Mazen Derwan, chief executive of the Chambers of the Syrian Industry Federation, said at the event that reconstruction must serve all income levels, from families still displaced to returning expatriate Syrians. He called on the government to further reduce bureaucratic barriers to investment. “If the standard of living doesn't improve, then there is no recovery,” he said.
