President Ahmed al-Sharaa's visit to Riyadh today, Wednesday, launched a new path in bilateral cooperation between Syria and Saudi Arabia, focusing on supporting service and development sectors and rehabilitating basic infrastructure. This step comes as an extension of the evolving relations between the two countries since the liberation of Syria on December 8, 2024, when the Kingdom was the first foreign destination for President al-Sharaa, from where supportive moves to lift sanctions on Syria began.
Details of Development Projects
The agreements and memorandums of understanding signed by both sides, according to the Ministry of Finance, include financing projects from the Saudi Fund for Development targeting the electricity, water, health, housing, and civil defense sectors. These projects include rehabilitating the Aleppo power station, supplying and installing 300,000 smart water meters in Damascus and Idlib, and establishing and rehabilitating 25 civil defense centers in several governorates.
The Ministry added that the package includes rehabilitating damaged hospitals and health centers, rehabilitating 10,000 damaged housing units as a first phase, as well as preparing a digital transformation strategy and establishing an office to manage it. The agreements also include memorandums of understanding in industrial, agricultural, and environmental fields, with the formation of joint working teams for five years in the industrial sector, and periodic meetings every six months in the agricultural sector.
Economic and Investment Cooperation Paths
The agreements include Syria's official participation in Expo 2030 in Riyadh, through a contract providing free exhibition space, enabling the promotion of Syrian economic and investment potential. This visit followed advanced stages in relations, including President al-Sharaa's visit to Saudi Arabia in February 2025, where he discussed strategic cooperation prospects with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
He noted that economic cooperation expanded in April 2025 when Saudi Arabia and Qatar announced the settlement of Syria's arrears with the World Bank, valued at approximately $15 million, allowing the Bank's activities to resume after a break exceeding 14 years. In May 2025, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan confirmed the Kingdom's coordination with Washington to lift sanctions, paving the way for broader economic opening.
Expanding Strategic Partnerships
July 2025 saw the convening of the Syrian-Saudi Investment Forum in Damascus, which resulted in the signing of 47 agreements and memorandums of understanding worth over $6 billion, with the participation of approximately 100 Saudi companies. In August 2025, an agreement on the encouragement and protection of investment was signed, a Saudi Ministry of Investment office was opened in Damascus, along with agreements in the fields of electricity, oil, and gas.
In 2026, cooperation expanded to include strategic projects in aviation and communications, most notably the "Silk Link" project with an investment of nearly $1 billion to create a 4,500-kilometer fiber optic network, and projects to develop Aleppo International Airport. Cooperation also covered the water sector with an agreement for desalination and transfer studies with a capacity reaching 1.2 million cubic meters daily, enhancing water infrastructure and aiming to improve citizens' living conditions.
Source: Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA)
Comments (0)