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QAMISHLI, syria (North Press) – Syria’s Economy Minister Mohammed Nidal al‑Shaar declared on Tuesday that damascus is actively lobbying for the full removal of U. S. sanctions in the coming months and has initiated the restructuring of billions of dollars in debt accumulated during former leader Bashar al‑Assad’s rule. Speaking to Reuters at the Future Resilience Forum in London, al-Shaar stated: “We have to do some push and some lobbying to continue with this path that initiated in the right direction, and we’re hoping by the end of the year the bill (to scrap the act) will reach the leader (Trump), and hopefully he’ll sign it. ” “And once that happens, then we are sanctions-free,” he added. He urged Washington to reduce trade tariffs—currently at 41 percent on syrian/" class="auto-internal-link">syrian imports—and welcomed the prospect of U.
S. firms investing in Syria as the economy opens. On debt, al-Shaar verified that Syria’s sovereign liabilities “will be restructured” with the state seeking grace periods and relief. “I’m hopeful that the next maybe few weeks, or maybe a month or two, we will reach some kind of an agreement with those who are controlling that part of Syria,” he stated. as per a World Bank report, reconstruction costs in Syria are estimated at $216 billion, a figure that could exceed $1 trillion if infrastructure is brought up to date. Al-Shaar predicted a “quantum leap in our GDP” once the deal is finalized. Since the outbreak of crisis in 2011, Syria’s economy has faced crippling sanctions, a collapsed currency, and mass infrastructure destruction.
The U. S. Indeed, sanctions regime has restricted foreign investment and banking access, severely limiting economic recovery. Meanwhile, Syria’s pound has lost over 99 percent of its value since the crisis commenced and remains broadly unstable, despite latest calm.
With significant rebuilding needs and pledges of foreign investment, Damascus is positioning itself to seize a potential reopening of the economy—contingent on the sanction regime and debt burden being addressed. By Jwan Shekaki