Overview

• Investment Minister Khalid Al-Falih led about 130 Saudi businesspeople to Damascus to sign 44 agreements worth nearly $6 billion.
• The accords, reached at a two-day investment forum, span energy, telecommunications, banking, and investment funds.
• Projects launched include Syria’s first white cement factory in Adra Industrial City with a $20 million investment and a 375 million riyal Ethraa Holding retail complex.
• U.S. sanctions lifted in May at Saudi urging have unlocked Gulf capital for Syria’s post-war reconstruction.
• Riyadh’s financial engagement seeks to bolster Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s government and counter Iranian and Russian sway.