Al-Shibani’s dialogue with Tony Blair at Davos Forum

During the World Economic Forum “Davos 2025” in Switzerland, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Asaad Al-Shibani held dialogue with Tony Blair about Syria and its economic future.

Al-Shibani said “we inherited a collapsed state, but we have great investment opportunities as Syria has diverse economy and an important geographical position”.

“Syria will have an open economy. We plan to attract foreign investment and establish partnerships with all countries of the world,” he added.

He pointed out that the most important priorities of the government are communications, roads, ports, education, health and energy sectors.

He focused on the education sector due to its importantance for Syria’s future.

Al-Shibani also said “we do not want to rely on humanitarian aid, rather, we want to build Syria with our own hands, and we have established partnerships with the Gulf countries to enhance the energy sector, especially electricity”.

He went on to say “we will turn challenges into opportunities. We have refugees all over the world who have different experiences, and we need this added value to build Syria”.

“Sanctions are the main challenge facing Syria. The Syrian people are badly affected by these sanctions,” Al- Shibani asserted, pointing out that the Syrian people should not be punished.

“The Syrians were waiting for the international community to intervene to liberate them, but we are the ones who achieved that. Today the Syrians feel hope and the achievement we are proud of is that no sectarian war occured in the country and what happened in Syria was a success story”, Al-Shibani went on to say.

He affirmed that transitional justice and accountability are the task of the government, not the people.

He pointing out that the law protects the rights of groups and women, stressing that Syria will be governed by the law, not by a specific ideology.

He reaffirmed that Syria will not pose any threat to any country, as Syria has now opened a new page regarding its relations with all countries of the world.

Al-Shibani said “we will build our future country depending on inspiring examples such as Singapore and the Saudi Vision 2030, with much creativity, innovation and development.