São Paulo – The Syrian government wants to attract more Brazilian investment. According to the director of the Syrian Investment Agency, Mohamed Seif El-deine, the flow of Brazilian investment into Syria is growing, but falls short of the potential that the two regions have. The director met yesterday (15th) with the Market Development analyst of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, Rafael Abdulmassih, who visited the agency in Damascus.
Since 2007, the Arab country is reforming its laws to facilitate the inflow of foreign investment. According to Abdulmassih, El-deine talked about the country’s political and economic stability, and about the various long-term projects that are underway in Syria. “In the Western portion of the country, the government grants full tax exemption to companies that present investment projects covering periods of over 10 years,” said Abdulmassih.
One of the sectors that El-deine mentioned was tourism, which offers several opportunities for the construction of hotels and resorts, particularly in the coastal cities of Tartus and Latakia. Furthermore, the Syrian government exempts companies interested in building factories in Syria from taxes on imports of machinery.
According to the Arab Brazilian Chamber director Sami Roumieh, who met yesterday with the vice-minister of Economy of Syria, Ghassan Habash, the government has shown much interest in strengthening commercial ties with Brazil. “The vice-minister expressed interest in signing an agreement to promote Syrian products in Brazil and vice-versa,” said Roumieh. “The Syrian economy is very much open,” he added.
Roumieh and Abdulmassih are now in Syria to promote Brazil at the Damascus International Fair, which started last Tuesday (14th) and will continue until the 22nd. At the event, the Arab Brazilian Chamber has an institutional stand in partnership with the Brazilian embassy in Damascus.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
