Russia, Syria Expected To Sign Road Map For Industry Cooperation In Damascus - Ministry

Fahad Shabbir (@FahadShabbir) Published December 13, 2018 | 01:08 PM

Russia and Syria are expected to sign a road map for bilateral industry cooperation during the 11th meeting of the Russia-Syria intergovernmental commission in Damascus, Evgeny Popov, the director of the Department of Asia, Africa and Latin America countries at the Russian Economic Development Ministry, told Sputnik.

DAMASCUS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 13th December, 2018) Russia and Syria are expected to sign a road map for bilateral industry cooperation during the 11th meeting of the Russia-Syria intergovernmental commission in Damascus, Evgeny Popov, the director of the Department of Asia, Africa and Latin America countries at the Russian Economic Development Ministry, told Sputnik.

The meeting of the commission started on Wednesday and will last through Friday. It is chaired by Syrian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov, who is accompanied by over 100 delegation members, mostly business people.

"We expect another road map to [Russian-Syrian] cooperation in industry to be signed at the end of this meeting," Popov said, adding that the main goal of the 11th session was to "find concrete and coordinated steps that will allow Russian businesses to participate in the postwar reconstruction of the Syrian economy.

According to Popov, Russian companies hope that they will be provided with the most favorable conditions in the Syrian market, given Russia's significant contribution to the fight against terrorism in the country.

Deputy head of the Syrian Planning and International Cooperation Commission Thuraya Idlebi confirmed that the road map was one of the agreements that the two sides intended to sign in Damascus.

"It [the road map] will include a number of investment and commercial projects in the Syrian government's priority areas: transport, industry, agriculture, water resources, health," the deputy head said.

In February 2018, Russia already signed a road map to energy cooperation with Syria. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak noted that it included projects on geological exploration, oil and gas production and the restoration of oil and gas infrastructure.