Syria’s FM to head to UAE, Qatar and Jordan to ‘build partnerships’
Al Jazeera
War-torn country reaches out for much-needed investment, as Saudi Arabia also set to play a big role in reconstruction.
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani has announced he will visit Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, having just made his first official foreign trip to Saudi Arabia earlier this week.
The top diplomat in Syria’s new government said in a social media post on Friday that he would be visiting the three countries this week to “support stability, security, economic recovery and build distinguished partnerships”.
The new government, made up of rebels who brought the brutal decades-long rule of the al-Assad family to an abrupt end last month, is eager for investment from wealthy Gulf states to help rebuild the country’s infrastructure and boost the economy, shattered by more than a decade of war.
Saudi Arabia already looks set to play a big role in the country’s revival. Earlier this week, al-Shaibani headed a high-ranking delegation to Riyadh that included the new defence minister and intelligence chief.