Syria signed $14 billion worth of investment deals on Thursday, primarily with Gulf investors, to help revive the country’s economy.
Qatari firms continue to benefit from the country’s longtime support for Syria’s rebels, with UCC Holding — controlled by Syrian-Qatari businessman Moutaz Al-Khayyat — taking the lead role in a $4 billion plan to build an airport in the capital. Other deals include a $2 billion real estate project and a $2 billion subway system in Damascus.
Gulf countries are using investments to prop up Syria’s interim government and exert influence in the war-torn country. Most of the $27 billion in deals announced in Syria since May are nonbinding memoranda of understanding, however, and observers have questioned what will ultimately materialize: some companies have murky track records. The $2 billion real estate project, for example, was awarded to an Italian firm with just €200,000 ($232,000) in revenue last year.