Ambassador Khaddour: The terrorist and economic war on Syria left disastrous effects on the industrial sector
Syria’s permanent representative to the United Nations Office and other international organization in Vienna Hassan Khaddour affirmed that the terrorist and economic war on Syria has had disastrous effects on all sectors, especially the industrial sector, indicating that the imposed coercive economic measures have undermined the country’s ability to advance this sector.
Ambassador Khaddour said in Syria’s statement at the General Conference of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) (the 20th session): “Syria attaches great importance to close cooperation with the organization, appreciates the efforts the UN Organization has made in supporting the development of the Syrian industry, and looks forward to further cooperating with the organization, especially in the light of the circumstances Syria has been experiencing since 2011.”
Ambassador Khaddour pointed out that “the industrial sector in Syria suffered great losses as a result of the war, as the industrial sector ranked second in terms of the destruction caused by the war following the losses of the residential sector.” He explained that “70 percent of Syria’s industrial capacity has been completely destroyed, whether through the targeting by terrorists who stole factories, or through cases of stealth of production supplies and smuggling them to some neighboring countries, the value of which is estimated at about 60 billion dollars, in addition to the loss of about a million job opportunities due to the destruction in industry, agriculture, trade, and services sectors.”
Ambassador Khaddour stated that “the number of damaged private establishments that were counted in Damascus and its countryside, Aleppo, Hama and Homs amounted to about 4,200 establishments, and as for the public industrial sector, the crisis led to the exit of 49 companies, factories and gins from production”. He added: “What Syria needs to restore the wheel of industrial production to what it was before the war, has been estimated at about $210 billion at least.”
Ambassador Khaddour pointed out that “the industrial sector in Syria suffered great losses as a result of the war, as the industrial sector ranked second in terms of the destruction caused by the war following the losses of the residential sector.” He explained that “70 percent of Syria’s industrial capacity has been completely destroyed, whether through the targeting by terrorists who stole factories, or through cases of stealth of production supplies and smuggling them to some neighboring countries, the value of which is estimated at about 60 billion dollars, in addition to the loss of about a million job opportunities due to the destruction in industry, agriculture, trade, and services sectors.”
Ambassador Khaddour stated that “the number of damaged private establishments that were counted in Damascus and its countryside, Aleppo, Hama and Homs amounted to about 4,200 establishments, and as for the public industrial sector, the crisis led to the exit of 49 companies, factories and gins from production”. He added: “What Syria needs to restore the wheel of industrial production to what it was before the war, has been estimated at about $210 billion at least.”
Ambassador Khaddour pointed to the great damage that resulted from the devastating earthquake that struck Syria on the 6th of last February and the disastrous effects the earthquake has had on the Syrian people and on all sectors, including the industrial sector, which is the vital artery of development.
He stressed that the Syrian government responded, to the utmost of its ability, to confront this disaster and Syria has also sent an appeal to the United Nations and the UN member states, and international organizations, to provide the necessary assistance and support for the efforts made by the government in confronting this natural disaster.
Khaddour explained that “Syria has suffered and continues to suffer from numerous challenges and obstacles that, in their entirety, constitute an obstacle to the development process, and at the forefront of these challenges are the negative effects resulting from the sanctions and the stifling economic blockade on the Syrian people, and the imposition of unprecedented unilateral coercive economic measures”. He indicated that “ These measures undermined the country’s ability to continue the development of the industrial sector, especially in the field of modernization and industrial development, as the economic sanctions included imposing a set of restrictions on international trade and banning certain types of supplies and raw materials. The sanctions further targeted the electricity and energy sectors, and thus established the limitations of energy carriers in the production process on the one hand, and also established an increase as well as a decline in production costs on the other hand”.
Khaddour pointed out that “in an effort to confront these challenges, the Syrian government has issued the necessary legislation that meets the emerging needs of society, in line with the requirements of sustainable development.”
He said: “The Syrian delegation took note of the Director-General’s report on UNIDO’s activities related to cooperation with middle-income countries, and is following up on the progress made in implementing the two country partnership programs, and it is looking forward to increasing the number of countries that wish to benefit from the country partnership programs.” He indicated that cooperation which took place between the government of the Syrian Arab Republic and the Organization, has resulted in the launch of the pioneer project to revitalize the agricultural food industries sector in Syria on the 10th of last May, as the first development project since 2011.
He said: “The Syrian delegation took note of the Director-General’s report on UNIDO’s activities related to cooperation with middle-income countries, and is following up on the progress made in implementing the two country partnership programs, and it is looking forward to increasing the number of countries that wish to benefit from the country partnership programs.” He indicated that cooperation which took place between the government of the Syrian Arab Republic and the Organization, has resulted in the launch of the pioneer project to revitalize the agricultural food industries sector in Syria on the 10th of last May, as the first development project since 2011.
Ambassador Khaddour pointed out that the Syrian delegation “hopes that the Organization will support additional projects in the field of textile industries, and will also support the pharmaceutical industry sector, which was greatly damaged during the war, as well as working to launch projects related to supporting artisans and craft industries in order to secure the equipment and production requirements necessary for production and furthermore secure energy carriers by supporting them with renewable energy equipment.”
Khaddour expressed his hope that “cooperation with the organization will be developed through its program that it is currently implementing in the Arab Accreditation Organization to support the Syrian Arab Standards and Metrology Organization for rehabilitation and grant it the necessary accreditation.”
He said that the Syrian delegation welcomes the United Arab Emirates’ hosting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28) Conference. He also expressed his support for the offer made by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to host the twenty-first session of the General Conference of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization in the city of Riyadh in 2025.
Syria’s permanent representative to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Vienna added: “The government of the Syrian Arab Republic looks forward to establishing fair global partnerships based on respect for the principles of international law and the provisions of the United Nations Charter, in order to support the efforts of Syrian state institutions to overcome all the challenges imposed by the years of war of terrorism imposed on the country, and thus achieve the sustainable development goals.”
In addition, Ambassador Khaddour reaffirmed Syria’s position that calls for an immediate cessation of the Israeli aggression against Gaza and the provision of urgent humanitarian support to the Palestinian people. In this respect, he said: “The Syrian Arab Republic condemns in the strongest terms the brutal Israeli practices against the Palestinian people in the occupied territories, especially in Gaza Strip, including indiscriminate bombing and killing of innocent civilians, as well as the systematic targeting of hospitals and industrial infrastructure in the Strip.”
Ambassador Khaddour stressed that what “Israel” seeks to do by committing genocide crimes against the Palestinian people comes as part of an ongoing series of aggression against the Palestinian people so as to displace them from their land, change the demographic character, and liquidate the Palestinian cause, in a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.
He said that the Syrian delegation welcomes the United Arab Emirates’ hosting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28) Conference. He also expressed his support for the offer made by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to host the twenty-first session of the General Conference of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization in the city of Riyadh in 2025.
Syria’s permanent representative to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Vienna added: “The government of the Syrian Arab Republic looks forward to establishing fair global partnerships based on respect for the principles of international law and the provisions of the United Nations Charter, in order to support the efforts of Syrian state institutions to overcome all the challenges imposed by the years of war of terrorism imposed on the country, and thus achieve the sustainable development goals.”
In addition, Ambassador Khaddour reaffirmed Syria’s position that calls for an immediate cessation of the Israeli aggression against Gaza and the provision of urgent humanitarian support to the Palestinian people. In this respect, he said: “The Syrian Arab Republic condemns in the strongest terms the brutal Israeli practices against the Palestinian people in the occupied territories, especially in Gaza Strip, including indiscriminate bombing and killing of innocent civilians, as well as the systematic targeting of hospitals and industrial infrastructure in the Strip.”
Ambassador Khaddour stressed that what “Israel” seeks to do by committing genocide crimes against the Palestinian people comes as part of an ongoing series of aggression against the Palestinian people so as to displace them from their land, change the demographic character, and liquidate the Palestinian cause, in a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.
Ambassador Khaddour stated that what “Israel” is doing in Gaza is part of the nature of this occupation, which has never ceased its aggression against other countries. Two days ago, “Israel” launched an aggression against Damascus International Airport, which is a Syrian civilian facility whose primary goal is to serve citizens. This aggression is linked to the brutal aggression against the Gaza Strip, which is a war crime and a crime against humanity.
Ambassador Khaddour stressed that “this attack on Syrian civilian airports constitutes a threat to peace and security in the region and the world, and a flagrant violation of international resolutions.”
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