Minister of Economy and Foreign Trade Adib Mayyaleh discussed on Monday with a delegation of Syrian industrials residing in Egypt the ministry’s means to support Syrian businessmen abroad to facilitate their return to Syria in light of the stabilization of security conditions and the gradual return of economic activity.

The two sides discussed the activities of the industrialists’ facilities in Syria and abroad, in addition to discussing the possibility of exchanging imports between Syria and Egypt.

For his part, Mayyaleh pointed out to the efforts exerted to launch the 59th session of Damascus International Fair, hailing the efforts of Syrian businessmen to preserve the strength of Syrian industry in all countries, particularly Egypt.

He said that the next stage will witness more prosperity for the Syrian industry, mainly after the return of the Syrian industrialists to their homeland and re-operating their factories, reaffirming the ministry’s readiness to offer all facilitations and decisions that would support the work of the returning industrialists.

He reviewed with the delegation the remarkable rise in the ratio of Syrian exports to imports which marked an increase of 26% in 2016, while it increased 17% in 2015, affirming that the this rise will improve further in 2017 due to the efforts of Syrian industrialists and the facilitations granted by the ministry in coordination with other ministries.

He pointed out that the importation share of production requirements has tripled, and there has also been an increase in the private sector’s exports to Egypt from EUR 429 million in 2015 to EUR 563 million in 2016 with an increase of 31%, adding that this had a positive impact on national economy.