Syria, Qatar to float investment firm

Syria and Qatar have agreed to establish a joint company with $200 million in capital to invest in industrial, transportation and tourism sectors in both countries, the official Syrian news agency SANA reports.

Bashar al-Asad ordered removal of all obstacles

The agreement was signed on Monday by Qatari Finance Minister Youssef Hussein Kamal and Syrian counterpart Mohammed al-Hussein in the Syrian capital Damascus.

 

SANA quoted Kamal as saying the Syrian-Qatari company might set up smaller firms to do business in various sectors in both countries, including investing Qatari capital in projects in Syria.

 

The value of the company’s projects could reach $1billion, SANA said, adding the minister praised Syria‘s richness in the field of “investment and new opportunities for the Syrian economy, especially in the tourism sector”.

 

Syrian minister al-Hussein said his government will approve the agreement quickly to let the company begin business.

 

Instruction

 

Syrian President Bashar al-Asad received the Qatari minister and later instructed relevant authorities “to remove all obstacles facing the implementation of the agreement in order to expand joint investment and develop economic relations,” SANA said.

 

Later, the Qatari minister met Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed Naji Otari with whom he discussed “the prospects of cooperation in the fields of transportation, banking and tourism”.

 

Qatar is one of the Gulf region’s most active economies, while Syria has been trying to modernise its socialist-style economy and upgrade its infrastructure.