Syrian Arab News Agency S A N A
Damascus, SANA- With the aim of supporting the tourism sector and restoring its elegance, Tourism Ministry has agreed on granting nine licenses to investment projects in Tartous province which are well-prepared and studied legally and technically.
Assistant Tourism Minister for Tourism Projects, Planning, and Investment, Eng. Ghiath Farrah, in a statement to SANA said that the licensed projects had been previously presented in the Tourism Investment Forum in the year 2019, adding that the cost of the projects is estimated at SYP 900 billion, and their capacity is 2,500 beds and 8,000 chairs, and they provide about 2,000 jobs.
Farrah indicated that after finishing the measures of granting the licenses, the implementation of these projects will start soon as great facilitations will be given to them such exempting them from customs duties and taxes imposed on the imported materials which are needed for carrying out these projects.
Regarding the deadline of the implementation of these projects, Farrah noted that the small projects out of the aforementioned nine need a year and six months, and the large ones need from two to three years or more, provided that the implementation period does not exceed five years.
Regarding the mechanism for selecting the projects, Farrah added that the investor or investment companies present offers that are closed and the most appropriate offers technically and financially are chosen in a way that achieves the common interest of both parties, taking into account the economic feasibility, provided that the investor has extensive experience and good reputation.
Farrah emphasized that the tourism sector is one of the largest sectors that provides direct job opportunities through investing and operating the facilities, and they provide indirect job opportunities as their implementation is linked to a number of professions that secure the needs of tourism projects during the period of their construction, investment and operation.
Farrah considered that the domestic tourism process has begun to return to its normal status gradually, and there is a considerable turnout on the domestic tourism areas, especially after the reopening of the facilities that were closed due to the precautionary measures of the Coronavirus pandemic, expressing hope for the return of the foreign tourism sector’s activity during the next year after the reopening of the airports, which brings high revenues.
Farah revealed that work is underway to prepare a new investment forum at the beginning of 2021 in Aleppo Province, adding that a number of lands and sites are being prepared in coordination with a number of the bodies concerned for achieving that.
Ruaa al-Jazaeri
