Trade between the United Arab Emirates and Syria more than doubled in 2025, a UAE minister said on Tuesday during an investment forum in Damascus that reflected rapidly improving ties between the two countries.
UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade Thani Al Zeyoudi said non-oil trade between the two states reached a record $1.4 billion in 2025, up 132% from the previous year. He said the increase opened new opportunities for expanding bilateral trade.
The two-day Syrian-Emirati Investment Forum, held at the Presidential Palace in Damascus this week, brought together senior officials from both countries, including Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa. During the event, both sides reached preliminary agreements on dozens of projects in tourism, infrastructure, agriculture, aviation, logistics and construction.
The UAE, which has traditionally opposed Islamist movements in the Middle East, had initially moved more cautiously than Saudi Arabia and Qatar in restoring ties with Syria’s new government led by Sharaa, a former al Qaeda commander.
However, relations have improved more rapidly since the outbreak of the Iran war, particularly after Syria repeatedly expressed support for Abu Dhabi following Iranian attacks on the UAE.
In April, Anwar Gargash, Diplomatic Adviser to the UAE President, described Syria as one of the Arab countries that had taken a positive stance towards the Emirates.
Mohamed Alabbar, founder of Emaar, said the company was studying projects in Damascus worth up to $12 billion, alongside coastal developments in Syria valued at up to $7 billion.
Syrian Economy and Industry Minister Nidal Shaar said both countries had agreed to establish a Syrian technical delegation to visit the UAE and prepare an implementation roadmap for the recent agreements.
Meanwhile, Etihad Airways announced the resumption of flights between Abu Dhabi and Damascus in mid-June after suspending operations in 2012 following the outbreak of the Syrian conflict.
Syria has been seeking foreign investment to revive an economy devastated by years of war and sanctions. Over the past year, Damascus has signed several major agreements with Gulf investors and U.S. companies, including Chevron for deep-water oil and gas exploration projects.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused U.S. government and Israel-aligned actors of manipulating energy markets to promote the war with Ir...
Russian strikes on the Kyiv region overnight killed 37 people, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said. Zelenskyy added tha...
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has called for greater unity across the Islamic world, saying Türkiye is seeking to strengthen allianc...
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has called for greater economic cooperation among Muslim countries, saying their combined economic weight remains disproportionately small compared with their population, strategic location and resources.
Iran is setting conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, including an end to the war, the lifting of the U.S. blockade and sanctions. At the same time, Washington is stepping up economic pressure on Tehran through what the White House calls “Operation Economic Outcast.”
Mail sorting centres used by Nova Poshta, Ukraine's largest private postal company, were destroyed in Russian strikes overnight, the firm said. Elsewhere, four people were injured after drones struck an apartment building in Sevastopol, Crimea, according to the Moscow-installed governor.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused U.S. government and Israel-aligned actors of manipulating energy markets to promote the war with Iran.
Russian strikes on the Kyiv region overnight killed 37 people, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said. Zelenskyy added that the Ukrainian capital was under "virtually nonstop attack" from drones.
Russian strikes on the Kyiv region overnight killed 37 people, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said. Zelenskyy added that the Ukrainian capital was under "virtually nonstop attack" from drones.
The U.S. is to take control of a fifth of Venezuela’s vast oil reserves, President Donald Trump announced on Friday. He said that Washington had secured control of more than 65 billion barrels of the South American country’s reserves through a partnership with private business.
Walmart has reached a settlement with the U.S. government over allegations that its pharmacies unlawfully dispensed opioid prescriptions, helping fuel the country's opioid epidemic.
Greenland’s opposition parties have called for Denmark to be held accountable before the International Court of Justice over a decades-long campaign in which women and girls were fitted with contraceptive devices, often without their consent.
Icelanders will vote on Saturday, 29 August, on whether to resume negotiations with the European Union, in a referendum that could reopen the country’s long-debated membership question.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment