The following text is a transcript by state news agency SANA of the speech of Bashar Al-Assad delivered before the heads of local councils elected in September 2018 during the local administration elections:

The Syrian government is continuing its policy of granting economic benefits to Syrian military personal, including several measures that were passed recently and that may partly be a response to growing discontent among loyalist segments of the population.

The Syrian government assessed last week the progress of the working group tasked with producing a reconstruction programme for Syria.

A selection of reports, papers and articles on Syria.

The list below includes the names of all the individuals that have been blacklisted by the European Union since the beginning of the Syrian uprising in March 2011.

European sanctions inflicted last week on several Syrian investors and companies are disrupting more than expected their business activity.

For the first time, the European Union has put sanctions on the business elite that has emerged from the Syrian war as well as on its most symbolic investment project.

As expected, the contract for the development of the Yalbagha real estate compound in central Damascus has been awarded to Wassim Qattan, 45 years after works on the project started.

The EU General Court has upheld the blacklisting of Makhlouf family members and of Syriatel, one of Syria’s largest private sector companies and property of Rami Makhlouf.

Syria’s steel industry is struggling to increase production as demand remains low and limited construction works take place in the country.

A selection of reports, papers and articles on Syria.

A selection of reports, papers and articles on Syria.

Syriatel has received the initial approval to list its shares on the Damascus Securities Exchange.

Syria and Crimea have signed several economic and trade agreements, highlighting the role of the peninsula in the Syrian-Russian relation.

The English transcript of the speech of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad on Army Day on August 01, 2018.

Syria’s PM, Imad Khamis, visited last week the two coastal provinces of Tartous and Lattakia where he inaugurated a host of projects including the first government project or building to be named after Bashar Al-Assad.

The half year results posted by Syria’s two mobile phone companies confirm the growing gap between them as Rami Makhlouf’s Syriatel now holds more than two thirds of the market.

The Ministry of Transport has issued the new regulations pertaining to the licensing of airlines, which seem designed to protect existing companies, including Cham Wings.

Home owners in the mostly loyalist Damascus suburb of Adra Al-Omalia will have to pay 40 percent of the reconstruction cost of their properties, according to a government official.

A new hotel property is set to open in Lattakia, which is among the rare parts of the country still hosting some investment in the tourism industry.

Cham Wings has launched a new service to Amman which highlights the warming of the relations between the two countries.

Syria’s last surviving classified weekly is reportedly closing as it falls victim of a decline in the advertising market, a switch to online media and a dispute between its owners.

Updated on July 26, 2018 (see bottom of article): Two cargo ships transporting wheat from Crimea to Syria have been delisted from registries, while a Makhlouf-related businessman has been removed from the EU sanctions list.

A selection of reports, papers and articles on Syria.

The Ministry of Tourism has granted a license for the management of a boutique hotel in central Damascus to a UAE company.

According to a local media, a Spanish company is considering supplying a photovoltaic power station in Syria, a very rare example of western interest in the Syrian economy.

The text of the interview of Bashar Al-Assad by Russian NTV Channel in Damascus on Sunday June 24, 2018.

The text of the interview of Bashar Al-Assad by Iran's Al-Alam TV in Damascus on June 13, 2018.

The text of the interview of Bashar Al-Assad by Britain’s Mail on Sunday, in Damascus on June 10, 2018.

A decree granting citizenship to dozens of foreigners, including prominent Syrian investors, has created an uproar in Lebanon.

The Syrian government is increasing the pay of its soldiers by 30 percent.

The Syrian regime is clamping down on Ayman Jaber, one of Syria’s most prominent warlords and a long-time business partner of the Assad family.

In this 2,200-word factsheet we provide a profile of Marota City, the most controversial investment project in Syria.

The text of the interview of Bashar Al-Assad by Russia Today, in Damascus on May 31, 2018.

The transcript is by SANA, the state's news agency.

Journalist: Mr. President, thank you very much for agreeing to do this interview. It’s a pleasure to be here in Damascus.

President Assad: You’re most welcome in Syria.

Cham Wings has announced that it will start flying to Moscow from next month.

Statements, as published by the Russian Presidency, by Vladimir Putin and Bashar Al-Assad following the meeting in Sochi on May 17, 2018.

Statements by Vladimir Putin and Bashar Al-Assad at the beginning of their meeting in Sochi on May 17, 2018, as published by the Russian Presidency.

Rami Makhlouf has reportedly obtained a license to open a microfinance bank in Syria.

The text of the interview of Bashar Al-Assad by Kathimerini, a Greek daily, in Damascus on May 10, 2018.

A selection of reports, papers and articles on Syria.

In this 2,300-word factsheet we provide a profile of Samer Foz, who in the space of the past two years has risen to become Syria’s most powerful investor.

A selection of reports, papers and articles on Syria.

A delegation from an oil-rich Russian autonomous region has signed a framework agreement with the Homs governorate.

A selection of reports, papers and articles on Syria.

Bashar Al-Assad has enacted a law that dispossesses many refugees and displaced Syrians from their homes and enables the regime to rebuild large parts of the country under its own terms.

A British petroleum company has confirmed that oil continues to be extracted from its fields in northern Syria despite western sanctions.

The Damascus governorate has approved the urban planning scheme for the second major area it plans to develop under Decree 66.

Rami Makhlouf is now involved in the controversial Marota City real estate development in the Mazzeh District of Damascus.

A selection of reports, papers and articles on Syria.

Damascus’ landmark Four Seasons Hotel is now the property of one of the country’s most powerful business cronies.