Türkiye’s top trade official is due to arrive in Damascus on Wednesday for two-day talks marking the most high-profile visit by a Turkish economic official to Syria since the ouster of longtime dictator Bashar Assad.
Trade Minister Ömer Bolat will meet with top Syrian officials to discuss trade, customs, transportation, investment and energy, a report by Anadolu Agency (AA) said on Tuesday. He will be accompanied by Turkish business leaders, as well as the heads of chambers and trade associations.
Syria is reeling from nearly 14 years of civil war that decimated its infrastructure and economy and severed it from the global financial system. Opposition forces overthrew Assad after a lightning offensive in late December.
Since then, officials have repeatedly voiced Türkiye’s support and readiness to help rebuild the neighboring country. Transport and manufacturing firms eye big expansion plans for Syria in what some expect will be a tripling of trade.
Bolat’s visit aims to strengthen cooperation, enhance communication between the two countries and boost inter-institutional coordination for the rebuilding of Syria, the AA report said.
Bolat is scheduled to meet Syrian Economy Minister Nidal Shaar, Finance Minister Mohammad Yasar Bernia, Transport Minister Yarub Badr and Qutaiba Ahmad Badawi, director-general of Land and Sea Ports.
As part of the visit, leaders from the Turkish business community will meet with Syrian counterparts at a business forum and roundtable meetings to explore new partnership opportunities.
Bolat’s meeting with Shaar is expected to address a road map for a comprehensive economic partnership agreement, aimed at deepening bilateral trade ties, the report said.
Last year, Türkiye’s exports to Syria stood at $2.2 billion, while its imports were $437 million, official data showed.
In late January, Turkish and Syrian authorities agreed to start talks to revive a free trade agreement suspended in 2011, when the civil war began. And national flag carrier Turkish Airlines is one of a handful of carriers to have resumed flights to Damascus after a 13-year suspension.
Discussions with Bernia will cover Türkiye’s potential contributions to strengthening Syria’s institutional economic infrastructure, cooperation on lifting international sanctions, banking sector development and the country’s broader reconstruction efforts.
The meeting with Badr will focus on enhancing transport links between the two countries, reinforcing logistical networks and exploring joint transportation projects that could support regional development.
Talks with Badawi will address the modernization of border crossings, improvements to customs infrastructure and private sector expectations regarding current customs duties.
Deputy Trade Minister Mustafa Tuzcu and his delegation traveled to Damascus on Jan. 23 and held a series of meetings with Syrian counterparts, which resulted in Syria lowering tariffs on some products.
On Feb. 8, the former regime’s restrictions on customs services for trade between Türkiye and Syria were lifted.
