Syria, Turkey Launch Joint Investment Push as Business Council Meets Three Ministries in One Day
Syria and Turkey have moved to deepen economic ties, with a Turkish business delegation holding talks with three Syrian ministries and the customs authority in a single day to expand investment and trade cooperation.
Damascus — Syria and Turkey took a significant step toward deeper economic cooperation on Monday, as a Turkish-Syrian Business Council delegation held a series of meetings with senior Syrian officials to discuss expanding investment and trade between the two countries.
The delegation, part of Turkey's Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEİK) and led by its chairman, Mashum Altunkaya, met with the Ministry of Industry and Internal Trade and Consumer Protection to discuss economic and investment cooperation. Osama Al-Omar, Director of Planning and Investment at the ministry, received the delegation, with talks focusing on prospects for joint economic and investment cooperation and ways to strengthen the presence of Turkish investors in the Syrian market [280250].
In a separate meeting, Syria's Finance Minister Mohammed Yisr Barnieh discussed with the delegation the expansion of economic and investment cooperation and the strengthening of partnerships between the two countries' business sectors. The talks aimed to support economic recovery and revive trade and investment activity [280215].
The Turkish delegation also met with Qutaiba Badawi, head of Syria's General Authority for Crossings and Customs, to discuss strengthening trade and investment cooperation between their countries [280235].
The push comes as foreign investors show growing interest in Syria's reconstruction market. At the Project Syria 2026 construction and real estate development exhibition in Damascus, Chinese and Turkish companies assessed demand for building materials, finishing products and steel goods ahead of studying possible market entry and a role in meeting the construction and reconstruction sector's needs [280166]. The exhibition concluded Thursday at the Damascus Fairgrounds, drawing more than 7,000 visitors and hosting over 380 bilateral meetings between Syrian and foreign companies, along with more than 200 job interviews for young professionals [280146].
A joint team of Syrian and Turkish specialists has also completed an early field survey along active fault lines in northwestern Syria and southern Turkey, aiming to update maps of these faults and better understand their earthquake cycles as a first step in a wider effort to map seismic risk in the border region [280161].