By Caesar R. Vallejos
Eagle News Service
YALTA, Republic of Crimea (Eagle News)– Syrian Minister of Economy and Foreign Trade Mohammad Samer al-Khalil urged the delegates of the 4th Yalta International Economic Forum to invest in Syria, noting that the country, while only recently the subject of missile attacks by some Western powers who he said “support terrorists,” was still economically viable.
“Syrian economy is in severe crisis but… some countries still invest in Syria. Everyone who wants to do so is free to come and invest in Syria,” Al Khalil said, speaking at the Future of the World plenary at the recently concluded conference in Crimea.
According to Al-Khalil, “we have sectors that badly need investments,” noting what he said were the many losses and production facilities that have been destroyed by the war.
He said the country produced 400,000 barrels of oil a day, but “as a result of the things that ISIS did, the oil fields were lost, that is why we produce only 5,000 barrels of oil per day.”
He also noted the loss of “quite a number of industrial material assets which laid the foundation of our economy,” with the recent launch of missile attacks by the United States, France and United Kingdom.
The attacks launched allegedly at chemical weapons facilities came following what the three Western countries said was the Syrian government’s chemical attack in Douma.
“Our country was struck by three countries and our people and my country were the victims of this attack and air strike. We were subjected to acts of terror,” he said, as he accused the three countries of supporting “terrorist forces.”
“Nice guarantees”
Even then, the foreign minister said Syria had “very nice guarantees” for investors.
He said that for instance, a special law was created for joint ventures (JV) and public-private partnerships.
The minister said he wants to boost economic activities for small- and medium-enterprises, which account for 90 percent of the Syrian economy, in free economic zones.
He also cited Syrian trade shows in Damascus that he said signify the country’s readiness in international business cooperation.
The Syrian delegation showcased an exhibition booth at the Yalta conference.
“We have production facilities that manufacture well-known products over the world. We do have chemical production factories required for internal market. Moreover, our agricultural activity is still strong even after seven years of war,” he added, noting that Syria exports some of its agricultural products to at least 10 countries.
“We have managed to maintain our country within its normal geographic boundaries. We are going back to our old boundaries and we feel satisfaction that citizens receive basic needs..Life is getting back despite the military difficulties, despite limited electricity and other things..Today we see that our economy exists and representatives of economy are present with other counties here at the Yalta conference,” the foreign minister said.
For the highlights of the live on-site Eagle News coverage of the Yalta International Economic Forum, click here.
