Conference on reconstruction concludes activities

Damascus, SANA-The international conference of “Syria, To Reconstruction,” organized by Damascus University with the participation of Arab and foreign figures, concluded its activities on Sunday.

The closing session focused on the economic impact of terrorism in Syria, lessons learned from reconstruction experiences in Iraq, and the social factors related to reconstruction.

Participants discussed at length the impact sanctions and terrorist activities on the Syrian economy due, particularly in terms of the drop in trade exchange, with the volume of trade dropping during the crisis to around 20-30% of its pre-crisis volume.

They also discussed the effect of the crisis on Syria’s tourism infrastructure and its archeological and historic sites, underlining the severe drop in the country’s revenues from tourism which were estimated at around USD 8 billion for 2014.

The session also discussed a research paper on the political economy of reconstruction, reviewing Iraq’s experience in reconstruction, and stressing that reconstruction should rely on local resources as much as possible.

The conference began its activities on Thursday.

Hazem Sabbagh

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