Syria's General Authority for Borders and ​Customs has ⁠signed an agreement with French shipping and logistics ‌group CMA CGM to operate two dry ports within the ​free zones of Adra, in Damascus' outskirts, and Aleppo, Syrian ​state news agency SANA ​reported on Tuesday.

The deal covers the management and operation of the dry ports to support ⁠logistics and trade. It coincided with the launch of a trial freight train linking Latakia port, which is Syria’s principal maritime access point, to Adra ​after a ‌14-year halt due ⁠to the ⁠Syrian civil war.

CMA CGM was not immediately available for comment.

The ​agreement follows a separate deal ‌signed in May 2025 under which ⁠CMA CGM secured a 30-year contract to modernise and operate Latakia port. Chief Executive Rodolphe Saadé, a Franco-Lebanese of Syrian origin, has family roots in the country.

On May 11, the European Union restored the full application of its 1977 cooperation agreement with Syria, ending a partial suspension imposed in 2011 ‌over human rights violations under Bashar al-Assad.

The move ⁠follows Assad's fall in December 2024 ​and the lifting of most EU economic sanctions in 2025, and is intended to support Syria's economic recovery ​and signal ‌renewed EU engagement with the country.

(Reporting by ⁠Zakarya Meliani and ​Sybille de La Hamaide, Editing by Louise Heavens)