Turkish Trade Minister Ömer Bolat on Aug. 26 visited Syria to attend the 63rd Damascus International Fair and hold talks with Syrian officials.
During his visit, Bolat met with Syrian Economy and Industry Minister Nidal al-Shaar.
Commenting on the meeting, Bolat said: “We discussed the steps needed to achieve the bilateral trade volume target of $10 billion set by our presidents, our cooperation to facilitate trade, particularly in the areas of transportation and border crossings, and the role the Turkish private sector can play in Syria’s reconstruction process.”
In a post on social media, Bolat said he was in Damascus on the occasion of the Damascus International Fair together with a strong business delegation.
Referring to his meeting with al-Shaar, Bolat said: “We once again reaffirmed our determination to follow up on the issues agreed upon during the Türkiye-Syria JETCO Meeting held in April and to turn them into concrete results. We will continue to strengthen the economic and trade ties between Türkiye and Syria on the basis of mutual benefit.”
Bolat later met with Ahmet Rawad Ramadan, who was recently appointed as the director general of the Syrian Investment Authority.
Having spent many years working within Türkiye’s business community and possessing a close understanding of both Turkish investors and the expectations of our business sector, Ramadan is uniquely positioned to help advance bilateral investment ties, said Bolat.
“We believe that his new role will provide fresh momentum to investment relations between Türkiye and Syria,” he added.
Bolat said they discussed the investment interest of Turkish companies in Syria and the steps being taken to create a more predictable investment environment. He added that they also reviewed the planned Organized Industrial Zone (OIZ) projects in Kamune and Saraqib, as well as efforts to encourage long-term investments that will generate production and employment.
“We further discussed the facilitating role that the Syrian Investment Agency can play between our investors and relevant Syrian institutions. In addition, the business representatives attending the meeting had the opportunity to share their expectations and investment plans, said Bolat.
