Tourism Investment Forum Opened

DAMASCUS, (ST) – Tourism Investment Forum for Small and Medium Enterprises was held recently in the Dama Rose Hotel in Damascus with the participation of tourist and commercial activities, businessmen and investors.  Some 24 investment sites economically feasible for tourism investment as well as four major investment projects were presented.

The Forum discussed axes to improve the regulatory environment, the prospects for bank financing, the development of business and investment environment through participatory and reconstruction. An exhibition for the definition of investment tourist sites and their investment costs was held.

The Prime Minister, Dr. Wael al –Halaqi, during the forum, underlined that the government is keen to provide all facilitations to the revival and developing of the tourism sector in parallel with government’s efforts to find ways to start industrial, agricultural and service projects at the phase of construction and reconstruction.

“The government is working to achieve balanced and sustainable development, which includes all cities, rural areas and villages in order to achieve social stability, provide jobs and reduce the migration from rural areas to the cities,” the Premier said.

He pointed to the start of the recovery process , construction and reconstruction in Syria and to the importance of these forums and meetings in the enriching of studies , ideas and the access to the recommendations and decisions touching all the challenges of the tourism sector and providing visions in the mechanisms of implementation of the projects of construction and reconstruction , stressing the importance of partnership between public and private sectors to support the tourism investment and finance development and services projects.

For his part, the Minister of Tourism Bisher Yazigi said that “the ministry is making every effort to draw up an action plan in the near term and long term and make an analysis of tourism situation in the past and to identify the points of the defect and the coming challenges and available opportunities for starting with specific steps and directions that can be implemented within the current conditions.”

Mr. Yazigi explained the importance of amending and the development of organizational and administrative legislations to suit the current and future stage through providing investment incentives that help to promote the tourism sector and make it the most important sector contributing to the reconstruction.

He also stressed the need to prepare the participatory environment of tourism sector and improve the provision of appropriate conditions for the revitalization of the tourism industry and to provide the infrastructure for tourism investment , adding that he is currently working on the preparation of the map of integrated tourism in Syria, which included all the elements of the natural, archaeological and religious attractions as well as identifying the areas of tourism development and studying the needs and facilities of each province.

The Forum was attended by Ministers of Water Resources , Economy and Foreign Trade, Social Affairs , Finance,  State for the Environment , Agriculture and Agrarian Reform and Minister of State for Investment, a number of members of parliament, representatives from the Ministry of Local Administration and the Planning and International Cooperation, Aga Khan Network, Department of Syrian Exporters, Real Estate Bank of Syria, Bank of Syria and Overseas, as well as economic and tourism activities and businessmen.

Sharif el -Khatib