The Saudi Arabia and Qatar efforts aim to stabilize in Syria by funding public sector salaries and raising economic recovery plans.
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Fahan al Saud said the kingdom and Qatar would provide joint financial support to Syrian state employees.
His statement came on Saturday at a joint press conference with his Syrian counterpart, Assad al-Sabani, in Damascus.
The two Gulf countries were one of the most important regional supporters of Syrian new authorities who expelled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December after nearly 14 years of war.
Saturday’s statement did not provide details on the exact amount of support for Syria’s public sector. But Syrian Finance Minister Mohammed Yosul Berny said in the beginning of May that Qatar would provide Syria with $29 million a month to pay the salary of private public sector workers for the first three months.
Reuters news agency also reported that the US had given its blessing to Qatar’s initiative. This comes days before President Donald Trump announced that sanctions over Syria imposed during the Al Assad administration would be lifted. The European Union has since lifted sanctions against Syria.
Further evidence of support from Saudi Arabia and Qatar was announced in mid-May, with a total of around $15 million when the two countries announced they had repaid Syrian debt to the World Bank.
International bonds
The new Syrian government led by interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa has sought to rebuild the country’s diplomatic ties and convince the cautious Western states that it has turned its back on past ties with groups such as al-Qaeda.
Syrian leaders have repeatedly denied extremism and expressed support for the minority, but the incidents of violence that have led to the deaths of hundreds continue to spark international fear, despite the government and Alshara’s condemnation of the killings.
The new Syrian government also worked together to solidify relations with Gulf Arab countries, which have begun to play a pivotal role in rebuilding the Syrian war-torn infrastructure and reviving its economy.
On Tuesday, the European Union announced it had adopted a legal action to lift all economic restrictive measures against Syria, except those based on security grounds. It also removed 24 entities from the EU list of people subject to liberalization of funds and economic resources, including Syrian central banks.
And after Saudi Arabia and Qatar removed Syrian debt to the World Bank, the US-based financial institution said it would resume its country’s operations after a 2014 suspension.
The World Bank has begun preparing its first project in Syria. It will focus on improving power access, a key pillar of revitalizing critical services such as healthcare, education and water supply. It also marked the onset of expanding support to stabilize Syria and promote long-term growth.
Syria’s progressive reintegration into the global economy is largely due to Trump’s dramatic changes in Washington’s policy towards the country. After announcing the lifting of US sanctions on May 13, Trump became the first US president to meet his Syrian counterpart in 25 years.
The US has already removed $10 million in rewards for Alshara’s capture, and the Syrian president has traveled internationally and was able to meet world leaders, including Saudi Arabia and France.
Still, there’s a lot to do. A February report by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) estimated that at current growth rates Syria would need more than 50 years to return to pre-war economic levels, calling for large investments to accelerate the process.
A UNDP study states that nine out of ten Syrians are currently living in poverty, a quarter of them are unemployed, and Syrian gross domestic product “shrinked to less than half its value” in 2011, when the war began in 2011.
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