ROCHELLE JUNIOR

Sweida- Six months have passed since the fall of the Assad regime in Syria. The economy in Syria deteriorated after the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011 has not recovered due to “Insecure” atmosphere created by Syria’s interim government led by by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), said Ikram Hatoum, an economist in the Druze majority city of Sweida.

“Although six months have passed since the fall of the regime, the interim government has no plan to improve the economy,” Ikram Hatoum emphasized, criticizing the policies of the interim government.

“Syria's banking system has been effectively paralyzed since 2011. One of the main reasons for the deteriorating banking system is the economic sanctions on Syria and Syria's exclusion from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT) system, severing it from the global banking system.”

US President Donald Trump announced the lifting of US sanctions on Syria during his trip to the Middle East last week. Ikram Hatoum thinks the lifting of US sanctions on Syria is a “temporary lift”. “The lifting of sanctions should not be an individual decision, but a joint decision by the US-EU-UN.”

Uncertainties in asset management

Ikram Hatoum also commented on the asset management in Syria and the fate of the income of large companies that were controlled by Assad's regime. “Have these companies been nationalized or are they still run by the forces of the Assad’s regime? Syria was one of the world's largest exporters of phosphates. Non-transparent agreements were made with Iran and Russia to exploit these resources. Following the fall of the regime, these agreements should have been reviewed; however, nothing has been done until now.”

Ikram Hatoum recalled that Syria ranked second in the world in cotton production in 2011. “However, there is no economic development plan for the cotton industry today. There is no economic development plan for the wheat sector. The interim government has not taken  any concrete steps although there is a decline in wheat production.”

‘People do not trust the government’

The people in Syria do not trust the government due to the massacres in Syria's coastal regions, Ikram Hatoum said, “Insecurity in the country and massacres in coastal regions deter foreign investors. For instance, an agreement was signed for Tartus port development without an elected parliament and independent legislative institutions.

The constitutional declaration grants the President broad powers and the right to appoint one-third of the parliament. This weakens the principle of separation of powers and reinforces one-man regime.”

An uncertain future

Ikram Hatoum concluded her speech saying, “Despite the fall of the old regime, the interim government continues to face Western sanction because of the government’s links to terrorist organizations such as al-Nusra (now Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham).”