Delegates at a Syrian-British business meeting in Damascus on Wednesday cracked jokes and were sanguine about Syria’s prospects of emerging from its economic difficulties with international help, 18 months after the ousting of Bashar Al Assad.
However, they cautioned that Syria's legacy of war and dictatorship would not be easy to overcome and said members of the diaspora who had gained education and expertise abroad needed to return to rebuild the country.
The Syria Britain Business Council meeting was the first since the organisation's launch in London late last year as western countries lifted sanctions and normalised ties with the new government formed by former Islamist rebels.
Speaking at the meeting, British Labour MP Alan Gemmell joked that considering the political instability in his homeland, he was happy to be in a “stable country”.
With Syria freed of the “tragedy and horror” of the former regime, talks with Britain have centred on counterterrorism, transitional justice, political inclusion and Syrian refugees, Mr Gemmell said.
Although 1.5 million Syrian refugees have returned, 4.5 million remain abroad.
Mr Gemmel is part of a three-member British parliamentary delegation, the first to visit Syria since Mr Al Assad was toppled in December 2024.
A World Bank study last year estimated the cost of rebuilding Syria at $216 billion, nearly 10 times the country’s current gross domestic product. Syria’s GDP fell by more than half between 2010, the year before civil war broke out, and 2024. Per capita income dropped to $830 in 2024, compared with $2,500 in 2010.
Foreign projects launched under the new government have been directed mainly towards property and building a new terminal at Damascus Airport. However, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz since the Iran war began in February has promoted regional interest in Syria as an alternative land route.
Anwar Akkad, chief executive of the Syrian Aviation Holding Company, which owns the national airline, said it might take a generation to bring the economy to international standards. However, Syria can harness its expatriates “who understand international requirements” and can help overhaul regulations and the legal code, he told the meeting.
Joud Abdel Messie, head of Syrian logistics group KSH, an agent for DHL Express in Syria, pointed out that western sanctions had not been lifted totally, which has hindered expanding ties with international companies. Syria remains in a “transformation phase”, he said
Syria's development was on par with South Korea's before a junta seized power in the late 1950s, imposing a command economy and banning most private enterprises. As Syria’s financial might began to wane, the middle classes, as well as merchants and bankers, began leaving the country.
Another coup in 1963 was followed by Hafez Al Assad taking power in 1970. Shortages became rife. His son Bashar ushered in economic liberalisation soon after he inherited power in 2000, but the benefits went mostly to people who became oligarchs.
Syria's Minister of Economy and Industry, Nidal Al Shaar, appointed last year, said there had been “no hope” of transforming the country under the old regime.
“The opportunity is now in our hands,” he said. “Make this country great again.”
Also at the conference were two former British diplomats who helped shape their country’s policy on Syria: former special envoy Jon Wilks and Simon Collis, the last British ambassador in Damascus before Britain closed its embassy in 2012.
Mr Wilks called on the British government to reopen its embassy, and to relax an official advisory against travel to Syria.
Mr Collis said he expected the Gulf and Turkey to become the main investors in Syria, with British companies involved in engineering, finance and high-tech and other specialised fields.
