President Al-Assad and Mrs. Asma Al-Assad visit ‘the Producers Exhibition 2020’: Aleppo is the heart of Syria’s industry and the production

On November 4th, President Bashar al-Assad and Mrs. Asma al-Assad visited the “Producers 2020”Exhibition in Tekiya Sulaymaniyah in Damascus.

The exhibition shows products which are made by industrialists from the governorate of Aleppo who were affected during the war but  have returned to work.

During a tour of the exhibition pavilions, President Al-Assad and Mrs. Asma listened to the participants and producers  tell about their participation in the exhibition.

The exhibition forms a platform for internal and external marketing of the products of the rebuilt factories in the governorate of Aleppo.

President Al-Assad said to the participants in the exhibition:

“ First of all I  thank you, because you held out in Aleppo and decided from the beginning to be positive and effective. You were challenged and you   succeeded, especially in these circumstances.”

President Al-Assad said: “When we meet with producers under these special harsh and difficult circumstances that Syria has not lived through since the days of independence, this in itself is a message.”

President Al-Assad said: “Aleppo has been under siege for about 3 to 4 years from all angles because bombing has not stopped yet its production has not stopped so the issue is not the siege.

If the siege on Aleppo was not able to have an effect, then the blockade on Syria, which cannot be more severe than the siege of Aleppo, will not be the reason behind the problem we are going through.”

President Al-Assad added: “There is the issue of oil that we are affected by, and the issue of wheat in the northeastern regions undoubtedly has had an impact.”

President Al-Assad said: “The economic problem has another reason that no one speaks about, and that is the money that the Syrians deposited in Lebanon’s banks. When these banks were closed, we paid the price. This is the essence of the problem that no one speaks about. It is easy to blame the state and the government.”

President Al-Assad said: “The current crisis is not related to the blockade.The blockade has been going on for years, and this does not mean that the blockade is a good thing and the Americans are innocent.

The blockade directly harms all aspects of life.But, the current crisis that began about a few months ago is caused by this issue of  the money that disappeared. Some say the  minimum was around 20 billion dollars, and the upper limit 42 billion dollars.We do not know what the real number is. This figure for an economy like Syria’s is a frightening number.”

President al-Assad said : “ Aleppo is the heart of Syria’s  industry and production. If we went back to the pre-war era, we would have said that we should focus more on production.

Now you have presented a true example that the idea of production even if it starts small. When we say small projects this does not mean that we want to keep them small. We want to improve these projects and make them bigger.”

President Al-Assad added: “ We saw you in the beginnings of your business, where you started after the last liberation of Aleppo last February.

After most of the projects began, and in a few months we saw wonderful production through measuring time and financial capabilities and the economic conditions of Syria or Aleppo.

Where there is a will and patriotism, we succeed. This means that there is a hope but hope is in action because work and hope are linked together.”

President Al-Assad concluded his speech: “ Instead of wasting time talking and crying which does not help, because a person who is only proficient in crying cannot produce.

A helpless person cannot provide anything to society or the country.

Therefore, you have turned towards production with little support and with much will and hope.

It is known about the people of Aleppo that they were able in a short time to manufacture  products. So instead of shedding tears and being frustrated, you took to your tools under  harsh conditions.”

Participants in the exhibition confirmed that the visit of President Al-Assad and Mrs. Asmaa was a great message of support for the production process.

The Arab Group for Exhibitions and Conferences organized the exhibition which opens daily from 4 pm until 9 pm until November 6th.

O. al-Mohammad