2026-07-30T14:17:10+00:00

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Shafaq News- Damascus

Syria is planning to establish joint industrial and economic
zones with neighboring countries to reduce transportation costs, attract
investment and deepen regional market integration, Deputy Minister of Economy
and Industry Mohammad Yassin Houri told Shafaq News on Thursday.

He said the ministry is developing the legislative and
investment framework needed to support the projects, expand domestic
manufacturing and facilitate cross-border trade.

Houri noted that Syria’s location linking Asia, Europe and
the Middle East positions it to become a regional manufacturing and logistics
hub.

To support that goal, the ministry is developing industrial
cities, upgrading transport infrastructure, ports and border crossings, and
linking them with industrial zones to integrate Syrian industries into regional
value chains. He identified the food processing, pharmaceutical, textile,
engineering, construction materials and chemical sectors as having the greatest
potential for cross-border production.

“Different stages of manufacturing could be distributed
among neighboring countries based on their comparative advantages,” he
stressed, adding that the ministry is reviewing existing agreements and
considering new ones to strengthen regional trade, investment and industrial
cooperation.

Syria currently has four main industrial cities: Adra in the
Damascus countryside, Sheikh Najjar in Aleppo, Hasiya in Homs province, and
Deir ez-Zor Industrial City, where the government is continuing infrastructure
development.

The industrial cities host investments in sectors including
food processing, pharmaceuticals, engineering, textiles, and chemicals. They
form a central part of the ministry’s plans to increase production, attract
capital, expand exports, and connect industrial centers to transport networks,
ports, and border crossings to strengthen their role in regional supply chains.

In recent months, Syria has also moved to rehabilitate
several border crossings, signed economic memorandums of understanding and
agreements with several Arab and regional countries, and launched projects to
upgrade industrial cities, ports, and transport networks as part of broader
efforts to attract investment, expand production capacity, and boost exports.