The Chamber of Industry of Damascus and its Countryside, chaired by Eng. Mohammad Ayman Al-Mawlawi, hosted an expanded meeting titled "Strategic Partnership to Rescue and Develop Production." The event brought together local industrialists and investors with senior officials, including the Deputy Minister of Economy and Industry, Eng. Basel Abdul Hanan, and the Assistant Minister, Mr. Mohammad Yassin Hourieh, to resolve bureaucratic and service bottlenecks in Yabroud and Al-Nabk.
Key Government Decisions & Policy Directions:
Industrial Master Plan: The Ministry is collaborating with the Regional Planning Authority to launch a unified zoning blueprint, regulate informal industrial clusters, and establish small, specialized industrial zones along the international highway.
Licensing & Deregulation: A new government decree will soon lift legacy restrictions on industrial licensing outside official cities. Administrative licensing within industrial zones will also be reviewed.
2026 Customs Tariff: Designed to protect national production by lowering duties on raw materials and increasing tariffs on competing imported finished goods.
Chamber of Industry & Investors' Demands:
Digital Transformation: Accelerate the digitization of transactions (similar to the "Etihad" platform) to bypass routine and eliminate the need for industrialists to travel to Damascus.
Operational & Financial Support: Waive customs duties on ongoing production inputs (not just one-time machinery), offer tax incentives for Gulf-bound exporters, and launch an e-commerce platform to promote local goods globally.
Infrastructure Urgencies: Resolve real estate speculation in Al-Nabk, utilize non-arable lands in Al-Qastal, secure 24/7 electricity for continuous industries in Yabroud, and compensate displaced industrialists to rehabilitate their factories.
The meeting concluded with a commitment to legalizing non-conforming facilities on agricultural lands and establishing local labor and insurance offices to process all paperwork regionally
16/7/2026
