In Dubai, Syria’s president laid out an ambitious vision built around investment, trade and regional integration, arguing that the country’s geography and economic potential can help shape its next chapter.
American companies have arrived in Damascus looking for opportunity. Syria’s economy minister has an unusually candid proposition for them: the risks are real, but waiting for certainty may mean arriving too late.
Al-Sharaa’s Visa payment in Damascus was a small transaction that points to a much larger shift: Syria’s return to international banking and payment networks.
Nearly 60 countries are represented at the historic trade fair as Damascus seeks to turn sanctions relief into renewed investment and commerce.
The first transactions reconnect Syrian merchants to global card networks days after the US removed the country from its terrorism sponsor list.
The decision ends a designation in place since 1979 and removes a major remaining obstacle to Syria’s reintegration into international financial markets.
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