2020 Guide How to Export Syria Table of Contents Foreword .................................................................................................................................................... 7 Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. 8 Present Day Syria ............................................................................................................................... 10 I. The Syrian Economy and the Sanctions ............................................................................... 10 II. The Syrian Economy and the Lebanese Financial Crisis ................................................. 11 III. The Syrian Economy and COVID-19 .................................................................................... 11 Map ............................................................................................................................................................ 12 Basic Data ................................................................................................................................................. 13 I – General Aspects ................................................................................................................................ 14 1. Geography and Climate ............................................................................................................... 14 1.1. Geography ............................................................................................................................... 14 1.2. Border Points .......................................................................................................................... 15 1.3. Climate ..................................................................................................................................... 15 2. Population, Urban Centres and Standard of Living ............................................................. 16 2.1. Population ............................................................................................................................... 16 2.2. Urban Centres ......................................................................................................................... 18 2.3. Standard of Living ................................................................................................................. 18 2.4. Language and Religion ......................................................................................................... 19 3. Transport and Communications ................................................................................................ 19 3.1. Transportation ....................................................................................................................... 19 3.2. Communications .................................................................................................................... 21 4. Political and Administrative Structure ................................................................................... 21 4.1. The Government .................................................................................................................... 21 4.2. The Administrative Division of Syria ............................................................................... 22 5. International Organizations and Agreements ....................................................................... 22 II – Economy, Currency and Finance ................................................................................................. 23 1. Domestic Economic Environment ............................................................................................. 23 1.1. Gross Domestic Product ...................................................................................................... 23 1.2. Employment ............................................................................................................................ 23 1.3. Inflation .................................................................................................................................... 24 1.4. Public Expenditure ................................................................................................................ 25 1 1.5. Composition of GDP .............................................................................................................. 25 Page 1.6. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) ........................................................................................ 26 2. Main Sectors of Activity .............................................................................................................. 29 2.1. Agriculture ............................................................................................................................... 29 2.2. Industry .................................................................................................................................... 31 2.3. Services .................................................................................................................................... 33 3. Currency and Finance ................................................................................................................... 34 3.1. Currency ................................................................................................................................... 34 3.2. Finance ..................................................................................................................................... 34 III. Foreign Trade .................................................................................................................................... 35 1. General Considerations ............................................................................................................... 35 2. Recent Developments .................................................................................................................. 35 2.1 Factors to consider when doing Business with Syria ................................................... 36 3. Direction of Syrian Exports ........................................................................................................ 37 4. Composition of Syrian Exports .................................................................................................. 39 5. Origin of Syrian Imports .............................................................................................................. 39 6. Composition of Syrian Imports ................................................................................................. 42 IV. Economic-Commercial Relations Brazil-Syria .......................................................................... 43 1. Recent Developments .................................................................................................................. 43 2. Brazilian Exports ........................................................................................................................... 44 3. Brazilian Imports ........................................................................................................................... 44 4. Potential Brazilian Products to the Syrian Market ............................................................. 45 5. Potential New Items to be exported by Brazil to Syria ...................................................... 46 6. Current Import Needs to Consider by Brazilian Exporters ................................................ 47 6.1 Export of Oil and Oil Derivatives........................................................................................ 47 6.2 Export of Halal Frozen Poultry, beef and Mutton meats ............................................ 48 6.3 Export of Medicines and Hospital Equipment ................................................................ 49 7. Investment Opportunities in Syria ........................................................................................... 49 8. Main Bilateral Agreements ........................................................................................................ 50 V. Market Access .................................................................................................................................... 51 1. Tariff System .................................................................................................................................. 51 1.1. The Legal Framework............................................................................................................ 51 1.2. Classification of Goods ........................................................................................................ 51 2 1.3. Tariff Structure....................................................................................................................... 51 Page 1.4. Goods Value Subject to Tariff ............................................................................................ 52 1.5. Preferential Tariffs and Special Fees ............................................................................... 52 1.6. Generalised System of Preferences .................................................................................. 52 1.7. Anti-dumping and Countervailing Duties ....................................................................... 52 1.8. Taxes and Fees ......................................................................................................................