The Syrian Chambers of Commerce Federation and the Beirut and Mount Lebanon Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture signed a memorandum of cooperation on Wednesday, 15 July, to develop trade, economic and industrial relations between the two countries.
The agreement was signed during a meeting in the Syrian capital, Damascus, attended by Syrian Minister of Economy and Industry Nidal al-Shaar, Lebanese Minister of Economy and Trade Amer Bisat, and the accompanying delegation, and coincided with the launch of the joint Syrian-Lebanese roundtable.
The memorandum stipulates that both sides will work to develop and encourage cooperation in trade and various economic and industrial activities, strengthen ties and enhance communication and networking among members of the chambers of commerce in Syria and Lebanon.
It also includes preparing a programme and appropriate mechanisms to develop communication networks between members on both sides, exchanging information on available trade opportunities in both countries, providing potential trade facilitation measures to facilitate the conclusion of deals, and promoting joint economic activities.
The memorandum was signed on the sidelines of the joint Syrian-Lebanese roundtable, which opened in Damascus in the presence of al-Shaar and Bisat, along with officials, diplomats, and representatives of the business community, to discuss ways to strengthen economic, trade, and investment c ooperation between the two countrie s.
Speaking at the opening session, al-Shaar said meetings with "our brothers in Lebanon " had laid the foundations for practical cooperation across multiple sectors "in a way that serves the interests of the two brotherly peoples and strengthens joint Arab action".
Al-Shaar added that cooperation with the Lebanese side includes developing mechanisms for exchanging information and establishing specialised centres to collect, analyse data, and measure indicators, thereby supporting decision-making and improving performance.
He said both sides are working to finalise memoranda of understanding between the federations of chambers of commerce and industry in Syria and Lebanon, opening broader prospects for economic and investment cooperation and delivering tangible results in the coming period.
For his part, Bisat said the Syrian-Lebanese Business Council "represents a fundamental pillar for developing economic and trade relations between the two countries and will serve as a permanent platform for dialogue and monitoring the implementation of joint initiatives".
Bisat said efforts are focused on removing obstacles and expanding trade , thereby increasing the movement of goods between Arab countries.
He stressed that "simplifying travel procedures for businesspeople and facilitating their movement constitutes an essential step in supporting investment and strengthening the economic partnership between Lebanon and Syria".
Meanwhile, Syria's chargé d'affaires in Lebanon, Iyad al-Hazzaa, said the two countries "possess complementary geographical and economic advantages that create the conditions for a genuine economic partnership based on mutual respect and shared interests".
Al-Hazzaa added that Syria's economic opening towards Lebanon "represents a first step in a series of measures to strengthen bilateral cooperation and open new investment horizons, contributing to greater stability and prosperity in both countries".
Lebanon's ambassador to Syria, Henry Kastoun, said bilateral relations "are witnessing an exceptional phase of rapprochement and cooperation that extends beyond the political, economic and security spheres to include humanitarian relations reflecting the depth of the historical ties between the two peoples".
Kastoun said, "Strengthening economic cooperation and launching joint initiatives between the two countries will reinforce bilateral relations and serve shared interests".
Assessing the significance of the meeting, Syrian business development consultant Ahmad Ankir remarked to The New Arab that "the joint Syrian-Lebanese roundtable derives its importance from its sensitive timing, as it comes amid regional changes that require both countries to reorganise their economic relations.
"Especially as Syria represents Lebanon's only overland gateway to the Arab world, while Lebanon serves as Syria's gateway to financial and service markets," Ankir noted.
"Energy and the rehabilitation of transport infrastructure stand out as shared priorities, alongside establishing institutional mechanisms to follow up cooperation, away from the political declarations that dominated previous decades," he added.
He said that facilitating trade and the movement of businesspeople "will not only be reflected in trade figures but could also reshape shipping and transit routes, reducing time and costs, particularly for perishable agricultural products and intermediate goods".
However, Ankir noted that "implementing these understandings faces fundamental challenges, most notably deteriorating infrastructure and the continued expansion of the parallel economy and smuggling outside official channels, making any customs or logistics reform dependent on first addressing these structural distortions".
He said that if both sides succeed in turning the meeting's outcomes into practical measures, the transport and logistics sector would be among the primary beneficiaries.
This would be followed by the energy sector, with potential cooperation in gas and electricity transmission, as well as the food processing and manufacturing industries, which could benefit from the availability of raw materials in Syria and Lebanon's marketing expertise.
Ankir said that "the sustainability of this path could shift the economic relationship between the two countries from one of competition and dependency to medium-term economic integration based on exchanging comparative advantages, contributing to absorbing part of unemployment and stimulating growth in both struggling economies".
"The signing of the cooperation memorandum reflects a move to shift Syrian -Lebanese understandings from discussion to implementation by strengthening communication between chambers of commerce, exchanging information on available opportunities and facilitating business deals, paving the way for expanding trade, stimulating investment and promoting joint economic activities during the coming period," he added.
Article translated from Arabic by Afrah Almatwari. To read the original, click here .