On the sidelines of his participation in the Doha Forum 2025, Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa held a meeting on Saturday with the Qatar Businessmen Association (QBA).
According to the Syrian Presidency, President al-Sharaa met with QBA Chairman Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al Thani and several association members in Doha. The meeting was attended by Syrian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Asaad al-Shaibani.
The session is part of Damascus's efforts to establish direct communication channels with Qatari economic and financial institutions. The primary objective is to attract investments that would contribute to Syria's economic recovery and reconstruction programs.
Al-Sharaa's Economic Agenda and Reconstruction Efforts
President Ahmad al-Sharaa, who assumed office in 2024, has made economic revival a central pillar of his administration. His agenda, often referred to as the "Economic Resilience and Development Program," aims to address the severe economic contraction, infrastructure devastation, and investor wariness resulting from over a decade of conflict.
Key pillars of this agenda include:
Legislative Reforms: Enacting new investment laws designed to offer incentives, guarantees, and simplified procedures for foreign capital, particularly in priority sectors like energy, agriculture, telecommunications, and transport.
Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs): Promoting PPP models to fund large-scale infrastructure projects, including power plants, ports, and highway networks.
International Outreach: Actively seeking to reintegrate into regional economic circles and normalize economic relations with Arab and international partners, following Syria's readmission to the Arab League in 2023. The Qatari engagement is viewed as a significant step in this direction.
Focus on "Quick-Win" Sectors: Prioritizing sectors that can generate rapid employment and economic activity, such as agriculture, light industry, and digital services.
Despite these efforts, international sanctions, political complexities, and concerns over long-term stability continue to pose substantial challenges to large-scale foreign investment. The direct engagement with Qatari business leaders in Doha is seen as a tangible move to bypass political hurdles and build concrete economic partnerships.
President al-Sharaa arrived in the Qatari capital on Friday evening to take part in the Doha Forum 2025.
Editing by Mohamed Hamdan
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