Traders say Syria is heavily dependent on land imports from neighbours this year.
A wheat-carrying ship has arrived at Syria’s port of Latakia. This is the first birth since former President Bashar al-Assad was ousted in December, saying the government is pushing to boost an economy that has been destroyed by nearly 14 years of catastrophic civil war.
Traders say Syria is heavily dependent on land imports from neighbours this year.
Officials from the new government led by interim president Ahmed Alshara say that whilst imports of wheat and other basics are not subject to sanctions from the US or the UN, the challenges to ensure financing of trade transactions have prevented global suppliers from selling to Syria.
In a statement, the Syrian president for the land and sea border said the ship carried 6,600 tonnes of wheat. It did not specify the ship’s nationality or destination, but a commodity trader from one region told Reuters he was originally from Russia.
Russia and Iran were Syria’s major military and economic supporters under al-Assad. They previously provided most of Syrian wheat and oil products, but were stopped after opposition fighters swept the country with victory and al-Assad fled to Moscow.
Syrian border authorities called the shipment “a clear sign of the start of a new phase of the country’s economic recovery,” adding that it should pave the way for the arrival of more important supplies.
The Alshara government has focused on a post-conflict economic recovery for 14 years and has also made efforts to open travel routes to the country.
Amidst the violent crackdown by the Syrian government over the protests that began in 2011 and the fierce crackdown on civil wars attracted by multiple outside actors, most international airlines stopped between Damascus in 2012.
However, in January 2024, several airlines resumed service at Damascus International Airport after they announced that international flights from Syrian Civil Aviation Authority would be accepted.
On Saturday, Syrian passenger flights departed for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Sunday marking the resumption of air travel between the two countries.
UN officials said on Saturday that Syrian authorities should also begin the economic recovery process without waiting for Western sanctions imposed under al-Assad rules to be lifted.
“Waiting for sanctions to be lifted is nowhere to go,” Abdallah al-Dhardal, regional head of Arab countries for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), told AFP News in an interview in Damascus.
Al Dhardalli said the process should include “projects… having a direct impact on citizens,” providing services by civil society, providing services in particular in education, and “quickly improving public services.”
“People need to feel improvement right away… especially during such difficult times,” he said. “As a clear vision and well-defined priorities, funds will flow into Syria once sanctions are lifted.”
Some countries, including the US, say they will wait for new authorities to use their power, secure human rights before lifting sanctions, and instead choose targets and temporary exemptions.
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