Business in Syria

Subject (Course): Foreign Trade and Business in Syria - Damascus. Syllabus:

1. Introduction to the Syrian Arab Republic (the Middle East)
2. Doing Business in Damascus.
3. The Economy of Syria.
4. Business Opportunities
5. Syrian Foreign Trade
6. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Syria.
7. Access to the Syrian Market
8. Introduction to Arabic
9. Business Plan for Syria

Objectives of the subject “Foreign Trade and Doing Business in the Syrian Arab Republic”:

1. To analyse the Syrian economy and foreign trade
2. To evaluate business opportunities in the Syrian Arab Republic
3. To explore Syria's trade relations with the student's country

Civil war in Syria.

Subject Description: International Trade and Doing Business in Syria.

The Syrian Arab Republic.

1. Syrian Population: 17 millions of people
2. The Capital of Syria: Damascus
3. The largest City: Aleppo
4. Arabic is the language of the 90% of the population and the official language
5. The Syrian Arab Republic shares borders with Turkey, Iraq, Jordan, Israel, and Lebanon.
6. Area: 185.180 square kilometres

Religion in Syria.

1. 70% of Syrian are Muslims Sunni, the 15% Shiites and the 10% Christians.
2. The main school of Islamic Jurisprudence is the Hanafi.

Syria belongs to the Arab Economic Area of the Islamic Civilisation.

Syrian Economy.

Important Note: the region is undergoing profound changes, many countries are changing rapidly, some to more open economies, and others not. In the case of Syria, the civil war situation makes it extremely complex to do business in Syria. Furthermore, it is hard to reflect these socio-political changes on the course content.

1. The Petroleum industry accounted for 23% of Syria's GDP.
2. The Syrian manufacturing sector accounts for only 6% of GDP, employing 11% of the population.
3. In a medium and long-term (beyond the petroleum and gas sector) could open up opportunities for foreign direct investment (FDI) in the food sector
4. In the Syrian Arab Republic products must be labelled indicating the country of origin. Labelling bilingual (Arabic and English) for labelling, especially for consumer goods is advised.
5. Currency: Syrian Pound (SYP)

Syrian Foreign Trade.

1. Top suppliers of the Syrian Arab Republic: Italy, China, Russia, Germany, France, Turkey, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia, and the United States.
2. Top export markets of the Syrian Arab Republic: Germany, Italy, France, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Turkey.
3. The Syrian Arab Republic is not a member of the World Trade Organisation. The import duties are very high.

Syria's Regional Institutions and Trade Agreements.

Syria has Trade Agreements with Saudi Arabia (1972), Egypt (1990), Kuwait (1991), Lebanon (1998), the United Arab Emirates (2000), Qatar (2000), Iraq (2001), and Jordan (2002). The trade agreement with Turkey will lead to a Free-Trade Area.

1. Arab League
2. Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Turkey (pending) and Iran
3. Summit of South American-Arab Countries (ASPA)
4. Euro-Mediterranean Partnership.
5. European Neighbourhood Policy
6. Asia-Middle East Dialogue (AMED)
7. Islamic Development Bank
8. Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA)
9. Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)
   1. Trade Preferential System (TPS-OIC)