Syria is looking for ways to increase the foreign investment flow, while it already enjoys some "limited investment" despite sanctions that hinder the economic activity, President Bashar Assad said in an interview with Sputnik and Rossiya 24 broadcaster
DAMASCUS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th November, 2019) Syria is looking for ways to increase the foreign investment flow, while it already enjoys some "limited investment" despite sanctions that hinder the economic activity, President Bashar Assad said in an interview with Sputnik and Rossiya 24 broadcaster.
Syrian citizens' living conditions depend to a certain extent on a range of external factors, in particular, on the Western sanctions that affect the provision of oil, fuel and, therefore, electricity, according to Assad, while the embargo that Syria faces prevents foreign investment.
"We need to now look for better ways to encourage investment because of the sanctions. We are currently studying our old investment law � which has been amended several times, to encourage the inflow of capital or at least the investment of capital already within the country which is not subject to foreign sanctions. Despite all this and despite the Western and American embargo, there are a few limited foreign investments," Assad said.
According to the Syrian president, rebuilding facilities destroyed in the course of the war is "difficult but not impossible."
"Away from any delusional or imaginary scenarios, practically speaking, there are a number of industries � the pharmaceutical industry for example, where the number of factories has risen significantly since the beginning of the war, this is also the case in other sectors," Assad said.
The president expressed regret that the pace of the restoration was not "as it should be" yet for the return of refugees looking for job opportunities.
"However, the mere fact that we are able to create new industries, a few of which are heavy industries, is at odds with the existing economic conditions for a country in a state of war, which usually can only create small or perhaps medium-sized industries," Assad concluded.
Having regained control over most of the country's territories, the Syrian government is now making effort to ensure refugee return, with large groups of internally displaced people coming back to their home country regularly.
