Saudi Arabia announced a major investment package in Syria that includes energy, aviation, real estate and telecommunications.
According to foreign media, according to Telegraph, Saudi Arabia launched an investment fund in Syria that will make available 7.5 billion Saudi riyals ($2 billion - 1.7 billion euros) to develop two airports in the Syrian city of Aleppo in multiple phases, Saudi Investment Minister Khalid al-Falih said on Saturday.
The Elaf Fund aims to finance large-scale projects in Syria with the participation of private Saudi investors, al-Falih added.
In civil aviation, Saudi carrier flynas and the Syrian Civil Aviation Authority signed an agreement to create a new airline, "flynas Syria".
The joint venture will be 51 percent owned by the Syrian side and 49 percent by flynas, with operations expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2026, the company said.
Saudi Arabia's largest telecommunications operator, STC, will also invest more than three billion riyals ($799.96 million – around 677 million euros) to "strengthen telecommunications infrastructure and connect Syria regionally and internationally through a fiber-optic network stretching more than 4,500 kilometers," according to the state news agency.
As media outlets point out, the latest investments mark the largest such announcement since the US lifted sanctions on Syria in December.
"We welcome the Saudi-Syrian investment agreements announced this week. The strategic partnerships in aviation, infrastructure and telecommunications will contribute significantly to Syria's reconstruction efforts," said Tom Barrack, the US envoy to Syria, in X.
Last year, Riyadh announced $6.4 billion (around 5.4 billion euros) in investments, divided into 47 deals with more than 100 Saudi companies working in real estate, infrastructure and telecommunications.
The two sides also signed a memorandum of understanding and a joint development agreement with Saudi Arabia's ACWA Power and the Saudi Water Transmission Company, setting out a roadmap for cooperation in the water sector.
"We have drawn up plans to build a seawater desalination plant, in order to bring fresh water from the Syrian coast to the south of the country," said Syria's Energy Minister, Mohamed al-Bashir. /Telegrafi/
