Enab Baladi – Amir Huquq

The spread of Turkish products in Syrian markets has had an impact on the ability of Syrian products to compete, particularly due to the rising costs of local production.

The Turkish statistical office has reported that Turkish exports to Syria reached $2.2 billion last year, while imports from Syria amounted to $437 million.

In December 2024 alone, exports to Syria reached $233.7 million, approximately a quarter of a billion dollars, marking the highest monthly figure in the last ten years.

Data from the Turkish Exporters Council showed that Turkish exports to Syria rose by 20% in December 2024.

İbrahim Fuat Özçörekçi, head of the Turkey-Syria Business Council, stated that Turkey aims to increase the volume of trade to $10 billion in the medium term.

Turkish exports of equipment to Syria surged by 244% in January 2025, while exports of cement, glass, and ceramics rose by 92%, and metals by 73%. Additionally, exports of fruits and vegetables increased by more than threefold.

Distinguishing between legal and smuggled imports

Syrian industrialists and producers have argued that the “invasion” of various Turkish products in Syrian markets poses a direct and explicit threat to local products, as Turkish products enjoy a lower production cost compared to their Syrian counterparts, resulting in significant competitive disadvantages.

On February 4, the Turkish Ministry of Trade announced that Syrian and Turkish authorities agreed to begin talks to revive the free trade agreement and enhance cooperation in transportation, contracting, and investment throughout Syria.

Dr. Abed Fadila, a professor at the Faculty of Economics at the University of Damascus, explained to Enab Baladi that the increase in Syrian imports from Turkey began as a result of the complete opening of borders in Idlib and rural Aleppo over the past few years. Turkish goods have become an alternative to the Syrian products that were previously purchased in Damascus and other provinces, especially since many Turkish goods are cheaper and the shipping costs to Idlib and northern Syria are lower.

Today, the flow of Turkish goods has increased even more than before, not limited to northern Syria but entering all Syrian territories, either through legal imports or smuggling. The demand for Turkish goods has grown significantly due to the weakness of local imports, the slowdown and cessation of national production, and the rising costs of its local and imported inputs.

Three cases for Turkish products

According to Dr. Fadila, it is crucial to differentiate between legal and smuggled imports. Legal imports of essential goods not produced locally in Syria are a positive matter, while the entry of Turkish goods that have local alternatives is a negative issue that harms Syrian industries and producers, necessitating regulations on the import of such products.

As for goods smuggled into Syria, they generally have only a minor “financial and qualitative” negative customs impact if they are essential and not produced locally. However, if they are locally produced, the negative effects are compounded and significant.

If goods are “smuggled” on one hand, “not particularly necessary” on another, and locally produced on a third, the damage to the economy and the Syrian production and business sector becomes “cubed” and severely impactful. Thus, it’s essential to curb their entry into Syria using legal means and methods.

Syrian markets are flooded with Turkish products, especially foodstuffs, clothing, nuts, biscuits, cleaning products, and glassware, which are favored by the public due to their lower prices compared to Syrian goods.

Destruction of Syrian products

Dr. Majdi al-Jamous, an economics professor in Daraa and an economic researcher, believes that under current investment, production, and industrial conditions, there is no positive outcome from the Turkish invasion of Syrian markets, as it works to destroy and weaken Syrian products.

The positive aspect of imports should be to create a competitive environment with local products, thereby improving quality, introducing technology for enhancement and development, and expanding productive capacities if the conditions were normal. However, today, Syrian products and industries are suffering greatly.

Several companies were closed last month for various reasons, the most significant being the unsuitable investment and production environment, starting with legal regulations and the ongoing financial policies from the previous regime, such as liquidity suppression, which exacerbates the instability of the local currency and price fluctuations.

Dr. al-Jamous indicated that the Syrian product has struggled greatly in the past two months, as funds have been frozen in import licenses and only released last week, causing significant depreciation due to changes in currency exchange rates.

Incompatibility with production costs arises since 40% of production costs are allocated to energy, resulting in a poor production environment due to energy conditions—whether electric or petroleum products—along with the liberation of energy production costs for industrialists, which has raised local product prices.

Closure of local industries

Dr. al-Jamous believes that the influx of Turkish products has significantly impacted local products, as the production costs in Turkey are extremely low compared to those in Syria. He predicts that this invasion will lead to the closure of many local industries in the coming months, which are fundamental to building the economy, such as food, detergents, biscuits, and similar products.

On February 4, the Syrian transitional president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, made an official visit to Turkey in response to an invitation from his counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Fakhruddin Altun, head of communications in the Turkish presidency, stated that Erdoğan and al-Sharaa discussed the latest developments in Syria and potential joint measures for rebuilding the Syrian economy.

Emergency demands

Economists concerned with the economic situation in Syria have called for solutions to support the national product and provide avenues for development and protection to revive local production, helping stimulate the Syrian economy, which is on the verge of collapse.

These demands included the Ministry of Economy and Foreign Trade playing an active role in improving the Syrian economy, preparing emergency economic plans and programs, being transparent about the economic policies in place, regulating the free market economy, and instituting tariffs on foreign products to improve the import and export situation.

In this context, Dr. Abed Fadila believes that the Ministry of Economy “has no power” regarding smuggled goods, considering that combating smuggling falls under the purview of customs authorities. Regarding legally imported goods, they cannot intervene, as imports are permitted and open for everything from all countries by government decree. However, that does not mean surrender.

He believes it is the responsibility of the Ministry of Economy and other ministries, like the Ministry of Industry, as well as other organizations like chambers of industry and commerce, and craft federations, to exert every effort to provide the government with studies, memoranda, and evidence illustrating the negative impacts of the chaos of smuggling and random legal imports on the Syrian production and trade sector to achieve rational measures and legislation endorsed by the government.

Conflicting policies with financial policies

Dr. Majdi al-Jamous, a proponent of protecting local products, called for imposing tariffs on imports from Turkey and other countries to raise the price of products and provide protection for the Syrian product. The first point that the state should undertake is to protect and support the local product, as it is the backbone of the national economy.

The second point to improve the trade balance is to work diligently and swiftly to prepare the investment environment for investment in energy and infrastructure, and to eliminate the monetary policies that have proved unsuccessful during the previous regime and are still in effect today. Support should be given to investors to generate a state of productive energy, allowing the national economy to increase exports and reduce imports, thus alleviating the trade balance deficit, according to Dr. al-Jamous.

Investment is not feasible under the current situation, according to al-Jamous, and therefore it is necessary to encourage expatriates and foreign investors after providing the investment environment and infrastructure. Additionally, support for local products should be granted by offering facilitations, whether through bureaucratic easing in legislation and laws or within the financial sector, such that importers can obtain bank loans.

He added that the policy of the central bank and other banks acts like a “police officer” on the importer, hindering the importation of raw materials necessary for production. The losses endured by local producers in the past have been severe, which should be compensated by finding ways to maintain the presence of local products, encouraging them to persist and work towards increasing productivity in the face of the influx of Turkish and foreign products.

Regarding the Ministry of Economy’s operations, he clarified that it functions under policies that conflict with financial policies and the policies of the central bank. This conflict renders it incapable of intervening, and before intervening to protect the Syrian product from its foreign counterparts, the Ministry should first work towards achieving a degree of stability in the exchange rate and support for Syrian importers of raw materials.

Customs duties on foreign imports

On February 11, the Turkish Ministry of Commerce announced the cancellation of restrictions it had imposed on Syria during the previous regime, making trade relations with Syria normal.

The Daily Sabah newspaper and the Anadolu Agency reported that the Syrian government decided to reduce customs duties on 269 Turkish products, following consultations between the Turkish and Syrian Ministries of Commerce.

For his part, Dr. Majdi al-Jamous speculated that Turkey’s decision to lift customs duties on Turkish products to and from Syria implies that Turkey recognizes that Syrian products are not competitive with its Turkish products due to excessively high production costs. Consequently, Turkish products will flood local markets, and the Ministry of Economy and Foreign Trade should intervene to impose customs duties on imports to protect local products.

According to Dr. al-Jamous, the Ministry of Economy and Foreign Trade is required to:

• Facilitate the import of raw materials necessary for production with clear laws and prices.
• Impose customs duties on foreign products.

Economic experts interviewed by Enab Baladi argued that raising customs duties on foreign goods will affect the free market economy, and that customs duties on imports should be established to ensure continued competition in terms of quality and price between local products and foreign imports, and this should be done meticulously and thoughtfully.

The Syrian General Authority for Ports revealed Turkey’s lifting of restrictions on the export of Syrian goods and products.

The interim Damascus government announced the establishment of a General Authority for Land and Maritime Border Crossings, integrating customs, border centers, and the Free Zones Authority, which will enjoy administrative and financial independence and report directly to the Prime Minister.

Enab Baladi tried to contact the Ministry of Economy and Foreign Trade to obtain an official response regarding its assessment of the value of Turkish exports, its work to enhance the value of exports, reduce imports, and its plans for the upcoming phase, but did not receive a response by the time of the report’s publication.

Support for Syrian industries

There is a need to support the Syrian industry and identify the obstacles it faces that impede its revitalization, because if its miserable state continues, the consequences will be severe on the living conditions that will arise from the closure of companies and factories, leading to an increase in unemployment and subsequently diminishing the economic reality.

Dr. Majdi al-Jamous outlined several points for supporting Syrian industries, as follows:

• Investment in infrastructure.
• Stabilizing the exchange rate.
• Begin providing credit and financial facilitation.
• Encourage foreign or expatriate Syrian investors.
• Introduce technology to enhance production capacity.
• Market local products.

Call for the establishment of a Ministry of Investment

In conclusion, Dr. al-Jamous believes that to improve Syrian industries, the establishment of a Ministry of Investment is essential. In order to build a national and free market economy, there must be an entity focused on improving the investment situation in Syria.

He also urged for the need to exploit public sector assets (which are minimal and at their lowest levels) and achieve cooperation between the public and private sectors to reduce production costs, establish strategic partnerships between both sectors to support Syrian industries, and implement tariffs on foreign goods and products to protect local industry.

Professor at the Faculty of Economics at Damascus University, Dr. Abed Fadila, stated that to support local products, production must be strengthened both quantitatively and qualitatively, and its costs must be reduced, especially for export industries and substitutes for imports.

However, achieving this is not easy under the current conditions, which are not governed by appropriate strategies and economic policies, given that Syria is undergoing an exceptional phase, transitioning from a controlled economy to a free market economy, hoping that the free market economy will not be unregulated.

According to previous statements from the Syrian Ministry of Economy, the volume of Syrian exports exceeded 500 million euros in the first six months of 2024.

In a previous report published by Enab Baladi, economic experts stated that the shift towards a free market economy requires not only the removal of government restrictions but also an integrated environment that protects competition. Tax exemptions for local production may help stimulate markets, but in the absence of a clear plan, they could turn into a financial burden on the state.

They called for the application of a directed economy, even in a limited manner by the government, especially in light of the current decreasing incomes.