The “Global Initiative to Buy Syrian Products”

Because of the destructive effects of the major earthquake that hit Syria on the 6th of February in 2023 and the aftershocks that had followed it , the Meshhadani International Group for Exhibitions and Conferences launched on the 27th of last month [21 days after the quake] the “Global Initiative to Buy Syrian Products” with the aim of supporting the industrial sector, which was badly affected by the earthquake, especially in Aleppo province.

The initiative set up a stand in the 15th session of the  SILA International Exhibition for Shoes and Leather (Spring & Summer 2023), which kicked off last Thursday in Damascus International Fairground city with the participation of 55  local and Arab companies, that display the latest models of shoes and leather products such as bags,  accessories, belts, cutting machines, etc…

The current four-day exhibition is an opportunity to brief visitors on the goals of the initiative that was launched by just 5 members of the Meshhadani International Groupm according to Mrs. Mayson Meshhadani, Public Relations Officer at the  Group.

Mrs. Meshhadani told Syria Times e- newspaper: “Just like all Syrians, we- in the group- were asking each other: What should  we do after the earthquake?? We must not keep crying over what happened.. We have to work.. Work is the key to overcome the situation. So, we were optimistic despite the tragedy of the quake and we were sure that there will be a breakthrough in the near future.”

As a group for exhibitions and conferences, we decided to work hand in hand with businessmen and industrialists,  who had suffered  since more than 12 years from terror wars and who were affected by the quake.

“We are certain that the initiative that was launched by many friendly and brotherly countries from all over the world to send aid for the people affected by the quake will stop one day…..And we Syrians  are more aware than others of our pain. So the idea of the initiative popped in our mind and we directly launched it via state-run media outlets, private sector, the  Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates and Syrian Ambassadors abroad. We received excellent  support for our initiative, which turned into a work plan for the year 2023, and we started to add main axes,” Mrs. Meshhadani said.

She pointed out that through the group’s agents in more than 20 countries including Africa, Malaysia, Bulgaria and Gulf State, big quantities of Syrian products were ordered to support the initiative.

“We seek to open windows for exporting Syrian products and enhance the industrial sector in the country. In the near future, there will be more than one team and more than one program all over the world.  We want to benefit from Syrians all over the world and the temporary lifting of the western siege for 180 days to mobilize all efforts being exerted to lift sanctions on Syria. Moreover, we invited Arab  businessmen to visit Syria to support the industrial sector and open the door before them….. We have never hesitated to knock on the doors in every area we could reach to open negotiations for supporting Syrian industrialist. We have friends in the diplomatic and tourist fields, who positively responded  to our initiative in the European countries as the people there know well that the Syrian is professional in industrial sector, Mrs.  Meshhadani added.

She concluded her interview by saying that the industry of exhibitions is one of the doors of Syrian industry.

Interviewed by: Basma Qaddour