DAMASCUS - President Bashar al-Assad on Saturday met a delegation of Arab businessmen.
Talks during the meeting focused on the status of the Arab investments in Syria and their future in light of the comprehensive reforms witnessed in Syria.
The role of the investments in supporting the national economy and their contribution to the process of reform and stability were also on the table.
President al-Assad expressed appreciation for the Arab investors who increase their investments in Syria in spite of all the circumstances, stressing that these investments have a promising future.
For their part, the investors expressed comfort with regard to the package of reforms taking place in Syria which reflect positively on all the spheres.
In a statement to SANA, Mansour Amer, Chairman of the Board of Egypt's Amer Group, said that the meeting with President al-Assad discussed the obstacles hindering the work of investors and implementing mechanisms to facilitate and speed up permits to help achieve better growth rates and provide more job opportunities for youths.
Amer added that members of the delegation sensed President al-Assad's commitment to reform in this regard, especially as he was well-informed about what is hindering work through prior meetings and listening to investors' opinions, with President al-Assad underlining the need for investment projects to provide more work opportunities for youths, which was stressed by the delegation members through their intent to establish new projects.
"We had a message that this is our country... we feel that we have a role in this stage which is affirming our confidence in investment in Syria and pumping more capital and new investments, particularly in this stage, and that our projects are all moving exactly according to plans," he said.
Amer said that the upcoming procedural reforms will have a great impact on facilitating investments, pointing out to President al-Assad's keenness on holding quarterly meetings with Arab investors to inform him of the problems hindering projects and progress of existing projects, adding that this made the investors very comfortable as there is a mechanism through which they can achieve their goals.
In turn, CEO of Investment in Syria Group Anas al-Kezbari said that the meeting with President al-Assad gave Arab investors -particularly investors from the Arab gulf - and investors in Syria confidence in Syrian economy, and that the investment and economic policy in light of the upcoming reform steps will give great momentum to investment that achieves economic feasibility and benefits Syrian citizens.
Al-Kezbari said that Syrian economy will witness a major upswing in the next stage which will help employ the workforce and create new job opportunities for youths, affirming that Arab investors who attended the meeting were greatly assured about the strength of Syrian economy, and that they will start new investment projects.
For his part, businessman Muwafaq Qaddah said that President al-Assad asked investors to devise a future vision for expanding investment and increasing projects that would be presented to the relevant authorities in order to provide the necessary facilitations, which would increase the number of projects that are feasible for national economy and investors.
Qaddah added that Arab investors and investment company directors came out of the meeting with good impressions, and that they will work to increase the number of projects that employ large numbers of workers.
On Thursday, President al-Assad met a delegation from the Kuwaiti Investors Council and discussed with them the state of investments in Syria and prospects for expanding them in Syria in all fields.
© SANA (Syria Arab News Agency) 2011
