Syrian Arab News Agency S A N A
Damascus, SANA- Minister of Industry, Ziyad Subhi Sabbagh has discussed with his Iraqi counterpart, Manhal Aziz al-Khabbaz means to enhance industrial and economic relations and to establish partnerships in order to uplift the industrial sector in Syria and Iraq in a way that would achieve industrial integration and would serve the interests of the two brotherly countries.
During the meeting with the Iraqi Minister and the accompanying delegation in Damascus on Wednesday, Minister Sabbagh affirmed the deep-rootedness of the brotherly relations binding the two countries and the necessity to develop industrial cooperation, especially as the industrial sector in both countries has been damaged which entails solidarity and coordination for uplifting it, and pushing the production wheel to meet the needs of the Syrian and Iraqi peoples of various commodities.
Sabbagh, invited his Iraqi counterpart to work with the Ministries and competent authorities in Iraq to overcome the difficulties facing the exportation of Syrian products to the Iraqi market and their flow in the Iraqi markets.
For his part, the Iraqi Minister said that the visit aims to find consensus formulas for all tackled issues and to go ahead in a joint industry, in addition to expanding trade exchange between the two countries and finding a work mechanism to achieve integration and settle a real industry between the two countries.
The Minister noted that most of factories in Iraq, especially in the domain of pharmaceutical and textile industries have stopped due to the war, calling on Syrian businessmen and industrialists to work for establishing partnerships with their Iraqi counterparts and to benefit from the Syrian expertise in manufacturing goods and training cadres to upgrade the Iraqi industrial sector and to establish joint factories.
Chairman of the Syrian Federation of Chambers of Industry Fares al-Shihabi affirmed the readiness of Syrian industrialists to work and cooperate with their Iraqi counterparts, and to provide Iraq with high-quality Syrian products, in addition to establishing a joint market to sell the Syrian-Iraqi goods.
The two delegations agreed to organize workshops and to form specialized committees from both sides in every field in order to come up with fruitful results during the days of the visit.
The visit of Iraqi minister and the accompanying delegation will continue for several days, and it will include meetings with ministers and chambers of industry in Damascus and Aleppo and many other preparations.
Rafah al-Allouni/ Ruaa al-Jazaeri
