Syrian Arab News Agency S A N A
Related Articles
Tartous, SANA – Economy and Foreign Trade Minister Humam al-Jazaeri said that increasing industrial and agricultural production is the most important factor in terms of regulating exchange rates, stressing that there’s no alternative to dealing in the Syrian Pound and that there are absolutely no plans to dollarize the Syrian economy.
Meeting economic figures and officials in Tartous province on Sunday, al-Jazaeri said that the Ministry took several steps in managing foreign trade by managing demand for USD since the exchange rate has become a main determining factor in assessing livelihood levels.
He said these steps included giving more flexibility in importing materials and equipment for industrial production and at the same time reducing imports of goods and products to protect local products, saying that this will show positive effects gradually, adding that restricting imports alone isn’t enough due to the smuggling of products that is hard to curb.
The Minister also said that studies are underway to figure out how to boost trade activity through Tartous Harbor.
Among the issues that were discussed by the participants in the meeting were the expansion of Tartous Harbor, updating legislations to help start up new production facilities, the problem of smuggling from Turkey, and citrus production.
The Minister also toured the industrial zone and the harbor in Tartous.
Hazem Sabbagh
