More Companies Shut Down in Syria’s Regime-Run Areas

Arab World

October 24th, 9:44am

Damascus - Asharq Al-Awsat

A general view of Damascus in 2018 (Reuters)

Areas controlled by the Syrian regime have witnessed the liquidation of 50 companies in the last three months, reported the government-aligned Al-Watan daily. This is equivalent to 75% of the total number of companies that have dissolved themselves since the beginning of 2022, which amounted to 79 companies, according to the director of companies at the Ministry of Internal Trade and Consumer Protection of the regime, Zain Safi. Al-Watan also said that the owners of the dissolved companies refused to comment to the media about the reasons their businesses were shut down. Hassan Hazouri, a lecturer at the Faculty of Economics at Aleppo University, believes that the regime’s policies have transformed the Syrian economy from a productive economy to a service economy. It did that by encouraging sectors such as tourism and trade, at the expense of real production sectors such as agriculture and industry. Hazouri further criticized Damascus’ ill-considered policies when it comes to resolving economic problems. These policies have ruined the economic standing of Syria further, which prompted an exodus of local businesses. Moreover, many business owners in Syria were forced to either permanently or temporarily shut down their operations. Those who didn’t sell or liquidate their business, left their company working at minimum capacity. Last September, Syrian businessman Ayman Bergenjiki, owner of Indomie Syria, announced that the factories producing the instant noodles have permanently ceased operations in Syria. He then reversed this declaration by indicating that it could potentially resume work. Last week, local media also reported the closure of about 25% of dairy and cheese production workshops and facilities. The closure came as the dollar exchange rate exceeded the threshold of SYP 5,000. The rise in the dollar exchange rate in Syria has produced market turmoil and a hike in production costs.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3948231/more-companies-shut-down-syria%E2%80%99s-regime-run-areas