LONDON, Nov 9: Syria’s readiness to swim against the Western political tide was underlined during UK Prime Minister Tony Blair’s recent visit to Damascus, the first ever by a British prime minister. Blair had hoped to win Syria’s backing for the so-called ‘war against terrorism’.
Instead, very publicly during a press conference, Syrian President Bashar al Assad explained that, while Damascus condemned the September 11 attacks on the US, it did not support the bombing of Afghanistan. He also stressed that Syrian-backed armed groups such as Hizbollah and Hamas - which Israel condemns as ‘terrorist’ organisations - were seen by Syria as freedom fighters, akin to the French Resistance during the Second World War.
But, while Syria’s stance towards Israel remains steadfast, however, its internal economic policies are - at least by normal Syrian standards - evolving rapidly and, underlining the determination of its young president to re-integrate his country into the world economy after decades of isolation, Syria is moving towards joining the World Trade Organization (WTO).
As a prelude to any formal approach to the WTO, Syria’s ruling Ba’ath party has requested the Economy & Foreign Trade Ministry in Damascus to prepare a technical study on the subject. Syria was one of the founding members of the WTO’s predecessor, the General Agreement on Tariffs & Trade (GATT), created in 1947. Damascus withdrew in 1951 in protest at Israel’s membership.
The step comes as part of a wide ranging but slow-moving reform programme initiated by Bashar’s father, Hafez, who died in June last year. Skeptics question whether the programme can ultimately succeed. The economy is dominated by a vastly over-manned public sector and job losses are seen as crucial. But unemployment, officially stated at 8.5 per cent, stands actually at about 20 per cent with 200,000 job seekers arriving annually on the labour market and the government fears the destabilizing impact of reducing the public sector labour force.
Another obstacle to reform are the important private stakes in the economy held by leading figures in the political and security establishment. This patronage is a vital element in cementing political loyalty and the regime is loath to risk disaffection at such high levels. But even before his accession to the presidency in July last year, Bashar was talking about the need for change. In March 2000, when the first new government in 13 years was installed, Bashar (who at that time was spearheading an anti-corruption campaign) declared: ‘We need change. We need it more today than at any other time.’ He explained that the new government’ s priorities would be to modernise the administration and reduce the level of corruption.
In his inaugural speech to parliament in July 2000 Bashar said performance on the economic front was irregular, and this was addressed by issuing laws and decrees that were often knee-jerk reactions to isolated incidents.
The only concrete step taken since Bashar became president, however, has been a new law, passed last March, allowing for the establishment of private banks provided that they are at least 51 per cent Syrian-owned. None has yet been set up.
A year earlier, in April 2000, a presidential decree had been issued permitting foreign banks to operate in free zones within Syria. So far, six banks have taken advantage of the measure - but they can only offer services to companies based in the free zones.
In other areas, Bashar’s reform programme has been more a matter of words than substance. Ministries and other public establishments have been working on a five-year reform programme which Planning Minister Issam al Zaim said in July would be approved by parliament ‘soon’. The overriding aim would be job creation, he explained, with the first three years being devoted to administrative reforms and the final two years to an acceleration of economic growth.
Total investment would rise from 18.2 per cent of Syria’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2000 to 26 per cent in 2003 and 27 per cent in 2005. The public sector would account for 69 per cent of the total investment. —Dawn\ Observer News Service
