Manufacturing

At the 63rd Damascus International Fair, Saudi and Turkish companies signed three agreements and memoranda of understanding (MoUs) to rehabilitate the state-owned Hama steel plant, build a new production line for clinker in Aleppo and expand the Bab Al-Hawa Industrial City in Idlib. A Turkish firm and a local company also announced a new industrial and crafts zone in Raqqa. 

Baladna Syria, a company fully owned by Qatar’s Baladna, has begun developing a USD 3.3 billion agricultural and food-processing project covering around 2,400 square kilometres in Syria, mainly in Raqqa and Deir-ez-Zor. The project encompasses  the cultivation of crops such as wheat, cotton and sugar, as well as processed products including textiles and dairy products The company, owned by the influential Syrian-Qatari Khayyat family, is also considering purchasing land directly from owners in several  regions around the country.

Two companies under the umbrella of the Syrian Sovereign Fund (SSF) have recently signed two contracts with foreign companies to rehabilitate several public hospitals and establish a vehicle manufacturing project in Aleppo. Sarh Holding, a state-owned construction group of companies owned by the SSF, signed a contract with Canadian company InterHealth Canada, to develop, rehabilitate, upgrade and equip 14 state-owned hospitals. The Syrian Company for Automotive Industry (SCAI), a company owned by the SSF, has signed a contract with Chinese bus manufacturer Yutong to establish a modern vehicle manufacturing plant.

The Ministry of Economy and Industry has recently announced the establishment of two new industrial projects: the first synthetic fur factory in Adra Industrial City (Rural Damascus) through a Syrian-Chinese partnership, and the construction of what has been described as the first integrated industrial mall in Sheikh Najjar Industrial City (Aleppo) by a company registered in Dubai.

The Syrian Investment Authority (SIA) has issued Decision No. 64 of 2026 (see Official Gazette Issue No, 27), extending the scope of activities of Syrian-Lebanese Food Products Co. (Sadro-2), a food industry company.

The Syrian Investment Authority (SIA) has issued Deçision No. 67 of 2026 (see Official Gazette Issue No. 27), extending the implementation period for a cement manufacturing project in the Hessia Industrial City. 

In this interview, Imad Ali, Director General of the state-owned General Company for Spinning and Weaving, discusses the ongoing restructuring process of Syria’s public textile sector, and the government’s plans to rehabilitate and attract investment into textile factories. The number of workers in state-owned textile companies has been halved from before the fall of the regime, from 11,000 to 6,000.

A Syrian elevators company jointly owned by local and Italian investors will resume building its factory in the Adra Industrial City.

The Syrian Investment Authority has accepted to extend the range of products a large chemicals plant in Damascus will be producing.

Syria’s manufacturing sector is rich with opportunities just waiting to be seized. Industrialists are free from the predation of Bashar Assad’s regime, and from most of the sanctions that severed Syria from the world.

Growing participation by regional companies at this year’s Food Expo underscored increasing foreign interest in Syria’s food industry, especially from Emirati investors who inked two investment deals. The expo highlighted the tension between the need to attract foreign investment and calls for protection from local manufacturers over the inflow of foreign produce.

On June 26, the Syrian International Business Centre for Smart Industrial Cities was officially launched in the Chinese city of Changshu under the auspices of the Syrian-Chinese Business Council and in cooperation with the companies Suzhou Land Group and Grow Fast. The first pilot project of the centre will be the establishment of two furniture manufacturing cities in Damascus and Aleppo.

The Syrian Investment Authority has issued Decision No. 55 (See Issue No. 23 of the Official Gazette) extending the implementation period for a pharmaceutical production project associated with Bashar Al-Assad's brother-in-law.

The Syrian Investment Authority has issued a decision granting a cement project in Rural Damascus one year to dismantle its assets. The project is owned by a holding company associated with the former regime of Bashar Al-Assad's inner circle. 

The Syrian Investment Authority (SIA) issued Decisions No. 5 and No. 6 (See Official Gazette Issue No. 22 of 2026), granting investment licences to two industrial projects, worth a total of USD 25 million.

Workers at Zanobia company have secured several concessions after several days of protests, while a separate strike at Madar company is ongoing. The disputes initially centred on wages and working conditions, but have also raised broader questions regarding labour rights, social protections and the role of state institutions in mediating between employers and workers.

In this interview, the Director General of the General Company for the Manufacture and Marketing of Cement and Building Materials (OMRAN), Mahmoud Fadilah, explains that private and state-owned cement factories are covering only a third of the annual demand for cement, but projected that by 2029 local production will be able to meet demand. Mr Fadilah also offers some details about the investment contracts - worth a total of USD 1.5 billion - to revamp existing cement plants and establish new ones.

Turkish company Tiryaki Agro Group signed an investment agreement between its Syrian subsidiary, Tiryaki Syria, and the Syrian Sovereign Fund (SSF) to operate the Al-Alamiya Oil Industry Factory in Hama.

The Syrian Investment Authority (SIA) has granted an investment licence to establish a printed carpet and textile manufacturing facility in the Sheikh Najjar Industrial City near the city of Aleppo.

The Syrian Investment Authority has issued Decision No. 3 and No. 4, dated 29 April 2026 (see Official Gazette No. 20), granting an investment licence for two major industrial projects. The first one is a food industries project located in Rural Damascus, while the second is a cement production project in Tartous.