The 50th extraordinary conference of the Federation of Arab Institutions in Latin America (FIA ARAB) continues its activities in Damascus for the second day

The 50th Extraordinary Conference of the Federation of Arab Institutions in Latin America (FIA ARAB) continued its work for the second day in Reda Saeed Hall at the University of Damascus, where participants discussed the topic of “unilateral coercive economic measures and their repercussions.”

Today’s activities included a dialogue meeting with economic personalities organized by the Federation of Syrian Chambers of Commerce and Industry on encouraging investment, followed by a presentation by the Minister of Economy and Foreign Trade, Dr. Muhammad Samer Al-Khalil, on “the economic reality and the strengths of the Syrian economy,” and then a dialogue session with the participants.

The dialogue meeting began with a welcome by the Syrian side to the Latin American community, a brief explanation of the reality of the economic situation in Syria, and the challenges that the two sides must overcome to reach economic cooperation that benefits both countries.

Syria Times had a word with Ghassan Salameh  president of Fia Arab in Panama , where he explained the goals of the conference  : ” We are here today to support the Syrian people and the Syrian army because of the circumstances they are currently facing, and to tell them that we are with you .I am originally from Palestine, it’s our duty to give all efforts possible to help the Arab issue and the Syrian issue, not only through supporting national matters, but also through business, however we can break the siege imposed on Syria, we and our colleagues(friends) in the region in Latin America are ready to provide all necessary steps to achieve this.

Salameh Added: “Yes, we, as businessmen in the region, and also as a former president of the Chamber of Commerce in Panama, want to put all the capabilities and equipment available commercially in order for them to be used by Syria, and thus market all Syrian products in Latin America through all the means available to us.Thirty years back Cuba was faced with similar circumstances that Syria is going through now, but in Cuba we were able to break the siege and bring back the economic life to it, which means that we have all the capabilities and experience so that we can work together and make it easier for the Syrian people and the Syrian government , also help Syrian business men and industrials to reach the point of presenting their products in the Latin American market.

Many ideas and propositions were presented during the dialogue meetings. One of the Syrian businessmen suggested establishing an annual exhibition to display Syrian goods and products in the city of Caracas, and another exhibition for goods and products for Latin American countries in Damascus.

Also the matters of reduction of custom duty in both countries, activating trade exchange between Latin American countries and Syria , the exporting of the Syrian olive oil to Latin America countries and the suggestion for the Latin American businessmen to embark on productive project investments in Syria were all discussed during the dialogue secession.

Syria Times also met with one of the Latin American members Ignasio of the delegation participating in the conference , where he told us more about this visit and how he experienced it :   “We are very happy to be here. I come from Argentina, it’s my first time here but originally I am a fourth generation Syrian, from the city of Homs . I am the first from my family to come back to Syria .It’s such a nice experience to be here , be part of the conference , meet Syrian people , see how they are getting through the war – to our surprise we saw streets full of life despite some areas of destruction , you know on the other side of the world we hear the news and people think it’s all in a state of destruction but now we can go back to our country and tell them it’s not the case at all , and we are happy for that.”

The conference activities for the second day around “unilateral coercive economic measures and their repercussions”continues until this evening, and will be concluded tomorrow evening with the theme of identity and belonging.

Leen Al Salman