Deir-ez-Zor

President Bashar Al-Assad’s handshake with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on September 22 marks a significant step in Syria’s reintegration into the global diplomatic sphere. Despite much fanfare, however, it is unlikely that promises by China's foreign minister Wang Yi’s “to take ties to a new level” will materialise into investments in Syria’s cash-strapped economy, given the recent decrease in China’s footprint in the country and Syria’s distressed business environment.

Recent reports have sounded the alarm on the bleak water crisis that five million people in northeast Syria are facing. The roots of the water dilemma are entangled and protracted and the political instability in the northeast hinders efforts to design a comprehensive strategy to manage the dwindling water resources. 

From new tour operators bringing foreign tourists to Syria to recent developments in tourism projects in Tartous, Lattakia or Palmyra; is the tourism industry having momentum?

On September 7, the Commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Mazloum Abdi, declared his forces had “full control” of the areas in Deir-ez-Zor province that had witnessed 12-day clashes between the US-backed SDF and some local Arab tribes. 

The Syrian government recently inaugurated a new gas well in Palmyra that will help narrow the gap between supply and demand. It is the second such gas well to start production in recent months. Meanwhile, the government has contracted an otherwise little known company to invest in various oil and gas fields in Palmyra and around Deir-ez-Zor.

Protests against the Syrian regime, which are reminiscent of the 2011 uprising, shed light on the government’s continuous failure to fulfil decade-long demands.