{"id":105139,"date":"2026-05-09T11:38:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T11:38:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/105139\/"},"modified":"2026-05-09T11:38:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T11:38:08","slug":"high-production-costs-stifle-syrian-export-revival-in-iraq","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/105139\/","title":{"rendered":"High production costs stifle Syrian export revival in Iraq"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n                            2026-05-09T11:19:54+00:00<\/p>\n<p>                                    font<\/p>\n<p>                                            Enable Reading Mode<\/p>\n<p>\n                                        A-<br \/>\n                                        A<br \/>\n                                        A+\n                                    <\/p>\n<p>Shafaq News- Damascus\/ Baghdad<\/p>\n<p>Syrian exporters are facing growing pressure in Iraq\u2019s<br \/>\nmarket, with trade volumes still far below the $2.3 billion in Syrian exports<br \/>\nrecorded before the 2011 war, as cheaper foreign products continue to expand<br \/>\ntheir presence in the country.<\/p>\n<p>Mohammad Orfali, head of the Investment and Real Estate<br \/>\nDevelopment Committee at the Damascus Chamber of Commerce, told Shafaq News on<br \/>\nFriday that the decline in exports to Iraq to rising production, shipping, and<br \/>\nenergy costs inside Syria.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Iraqi market remains one of the most important<br \/>\ndestinations for Syrian products,\u201d he remarked, noting that Syrian goods<br \/>\nonce accounted for a much larger share of Iraqi imports, particularly in food<br \/>\nproducts, textiles, and pharmaceuticals.<\/p>\n<p>Although the <a href=\"https:\/\/shafaq.com\/en\/Economy\/Iraq-Syria-Rabia-crossing-reopens-after-years-of-closure\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">reopening<\/a> of border crossings between Syria and<br \/>\nIraq has helped revive part of the trade flow, Orfali called for broader<br \/>\neconomic cooperation and stronger coordination between Damascus and Baghdad<br \/>\nthrough trade delegations, as well as the chambers of commerce, industry, and agriculture.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe improvement of logistics infrastructure, easing<br \/>\nfinancial transfers, and streamlining customs procedures could further increase<br \/>\ntrade exchange between the two countries,\u201d he continued, maintaining that<br \/>\nSyrian products still enjoy the trust and preference of Iraqi consumers.<\/p>\n<p>To strengthen the competitiveness of Syrian exports, Orfali<br \/>\nurged Damascus to remove customs duties on raw materials used in manufacturing,<br \/>\na step he believes could reduce production costs and reinforce the position of Syrian<br \/>\ngoods in foreign markets, particularly Iraq.<\/p>\n<p>He concluded that Baghdad remains among the most promising<br \/>\ndestinations for Syrian exports because of its proximity, lower transportation<br \/>\ncosts compared with distant markets, similar consumer tastes, and the<br \/>\nlongstanding economic and social ties between the Syrian and Iraqi peoples.<\/p>\n<p>According to Iraq\u2019s Ministry of Finance, trade between Iraq<br \/>\nand Syria reached about $5 billion before the 2011 conflict. It then fell<br \/>\nsharply during the war years to below $1 billion, as border closures, security<br \/>\ndisruptions, and the contraction of Syrian industrial output weighed on<br \/>\ncross-border commerce. In recent years, however, trade has shown signs of<br \/>\nrecovery, with estimates for 2024 and 2025 placing the value of bilateral<br \/>\nexchanges at around $2 billion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"2026-05-09T11:19:54+00:00 font Enable Reading Mode A- A A+ Shafaq News- Damascus\/ Baghdad Syrian exporters are facing growing pressure&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":105140,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[14],"tags":[22240,35886,36418,94,36419,95],"class_list":["post-105139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-iraq","tag-bilateral-trade","tag-goods","tag-high-production-costs-stifle-syrian-export-revival-in-iraq","tag-iraq","tag-iraqi-market","tag-syria"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116544425262461429","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105139"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105139\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}