Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa intends to visit the UK and Germany next week in trips focused on the economy, as the country continues to re-engage with the international community following years of isolation and sanctions during the rule of former dictator Bashar al-Assad.
The UAE-based news website The National reported that the British government was due to announce a scheme providing export finance to UK companies seeking to do business in Syria during his visit.
The visit is also expected to lead to the full reopening of the Syrian embassy in London and the British embassy in Damascus. Diplomatic relations were re-established last year but embassies have not started operating yet.
Talal Al-Hilali, the director of the Syria Investment Authority, visited London on Wednesday to meet with British Syrians seeking to invest in Syria, as well as representatives of construction companies and financial institutions, according to The National .
Syria recently passed a new investment law allowing non-Syrian companies to own 100 per cent of their project and removing Assad-era requirements for government participation in investment projects, in the hope of attracting foreign investment amid continued political and economic uncertainty in Syria and the wider region.
Before arriving in the UK, Sharaa is expected to visit Germany on Monday, which hosts hundreds of thousands of refugees from the Syrian conflict .
He is due to meet with Chancellor Friedrich Merz, a government spokesman in Berlin said.
"The chancellor will receive the president of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa, at the chancellery on Monday... for his inaugural visit," spokesman Stefan Kornelius said Friday.
Sharaa had initially been due to visit Germany in January, but the trip was postponed at a time of clashes between Syrian government troops and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) which ended in a ceasefire.
Sharaa will take part in an economic forum where "high-ranking business and government representatives" will discuss "prospects for economic recovery and the reconstruction of Syria", a foreign ministry spokesman said.
"The long conflict in Syria has had a devastating impact on the Syrian economy," the German spokesman said, noting "widespread poverty among the population and the high financial requirements for reconstruction".
"With the lifting of numerous EU, UN and other sanctions following the end of the Assad regime, the foundations for (economic recovery) have been laid," he said. Agencies contributed to this report.