TEHRAN (FNA)—With Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi visiting Syria and meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, official statistics have revealed that trade between the two countries has almost halved since 2011.

In contrast to Iranian circles praising the vitality of Tehran and Damascus' political and military relations, some Persian-language media outlets criticized the low index of economic cooperation and trade exchange between them.

The economic website Ecoiran published an article under the title "Iran and Syria are partners in politics without the economy," explaining that the current level of economic relations between the two countries cannot be accepted, as Tehran's share of Syria's economy does not exceed 3%, and the Islamic Republic is not among the top six countries in the list of Damascus' trade partners.

Trade exchange between the two countries

Official statistics showed that Iran's non-oil exports to Damascus recorded 147,243 tons, worth $168,533,20 during the last Iranian year (ended on March <>).

Official reports show that Iranian exports to Syria during the past Iranian year recorded an increase of 10.6% in weight and 11.4% in value, compared to the previous year.

In response to a question for Al Jazeera Net, Ruhollah Latifi, spokesman for the International Relations and Trade Development Committee in the "Iranian House of Industry, Trade and Mines", revealed that his country's imports from Syria during the last Iranian year were 215 thousand tons, worth 28 million and 500 thousand dollars.


Trade barriers between the two countries

Latifi explained that the value of Iranian exports to Syria fell from two billion and 476 million and 608 thousand dollars between 2001 and 2011, to one billion and 881 million and 588 thousand dollars between 2011 and 2022.

Latifi stressed that the main reasons for the decline in trade exchanges between his country and Syria during the last decade are: the war, the presence of foreign forces on Syrian territory, the cessation of land transport in some corridors to Syria, and the outbreak of the Corona pandemic.

In the same context, Hassan Shamshadi, Secretary-General of the Iran-Syria Joint Chamber of Commerce, believes that there are two fundamental reasons that stand in the way of developing economic cooperation between Tehran and Damascus: the problem of remittances between the two countries, in addition to the suspension of work on the land line linking Iran to Syria and Lebanon through Iraq.

Investment size

The official IRNA news agency reported in a report entitled "Syrian-Iranian relations... Tehran invested in 4 economic projects from 1991 to 2005, at a cost of more than 5 billion Syrian pounds (equivalent to two billion and 990 million dollars).

Between 2006 and 2010, Iran invested in seven projects with an investment cost of more than 7 billion Syrian pounds ($20.7 million), and officials of both countries announced plans in 960 to expand $2006 billion worth of Iranian projects in Syria over the next six years.

According to the report of the official IRNA news agency, "after the outbreak of the crisis in Syria, Tehran and Damascus signed in 2019, 11 cooperation agreements in the economic, scientific, cultural, investment and housing fields," but without referring to the size of investments at the moment, especially Syrian investments in Iran.

For his part, political economist Peyman Yazdani believes that the current volume of investment between his country and Syria does not rise to the desired level, expressing his hope that Raisi's visit to Damascus will constitute a qualitative leap in trade exchange and economic cooperation between the two countries.

Official statistics revealed that trade between Iran and Syria fell by almost half (Reuters)

Promising Opportunities

In an interview with Al Jazeera Net, Yazdani says that the Syrian side imposed a ban on the import of many goods to provide hard currency due to foreign sanctions and the war that lasted over the past decade, noting that a number of Iranian companies have invested during the past period in energy and infrastructure projects in Syria.

Yazdani believes that the signing of memorandums of cooperation to agree on the formation of a joint bank during Raisi's visit to Damascus would solve the problem of remittances, as well as the reconstruction phase in Syria will open a great opportunity for Iranian companies to invest in Syria.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad signed a memorandum of understanding on Wednesday for comprehensive and long-term strategic cooperation, covering several fields including agriculture, railways, civil aviation, oil and free zones.

The Iranian researcher concluded that he expects the development of economic cooperation between Tehran and Damascus in the coming period, based on the agreement of the two sides to cooperate in many fields such as:

  • Activating religious tourism.
  • Formation of a joint bank.
  • Establishing commercial zones inside Syria.
  • Investment in oil fields and refineries.
  • Zeroing the tariff.
  • Completion of the railway line linking Iran's Shalamjah and Iraq's Basra to the Syrian port of Latakia.
  • Iran's participation in the reconstruction of Syria.
  • Discuss the reactivation of the Iranian-Syrian car production plant (SIAMCO) near Homs.