BEIRUT, Oct 21, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – By reopening a key land crossing with
Jordan this month, the Syrian regime is inching towards a return to trade
with the wider region as it looks to boost its war-ravaged economy.
The government of President Bashar al-Assad took back control of the
Nassib border post in July from rebels as part of a military offensive that
reclaimed swathes of the south of the country.
Syria’s international trade has plummeted during the seven-year civil war,
and its foreign reserves have been almost depleted.
The reopening of Nassib after a three-year hiatus, on October 15, is a
political victory for the Damascus regime, said Sam Heller of the
International Crisis Group.
It is “a step towards reintegrating with Syria’s surroundings economically
and recapturing the country’s traditional role as a conduit for regional
trade,” he said.
The Nassib crossing reopens a direct land route between Syria and Jordan,
but also a passage via its southern neighbour to Iraq to the east, and the
Gulf to the south.
“For the Syrian government, reopening Nassib is a step towards
normalisation with Jordan and the broader region, and a blow to US-led
attempts to isolate Damascus,” Heller said.
International pressure and numerous rounds of peace talks have failed to
stem the fighting in Syria, and seven years in the regime has gained the
military upper hand in the conflict.
Assad’s forces now control nearly two-thirds of the country, after a
series of Russia-backed offensives against rebels and jihadists.
– ‘Important market’ –
Syria faces a mammoth task to revive its battered economy.
The country’s exports plummeted by more than 90 percent in the first four
years of the conflict alone, from $7.9 billion to $631 million, according to
a World Bank report last year.
The Syria Report, an economic weekly, said Nassib’s reopening would
reconnect Syria with an “important market” in the Gulf.
But, it warned, “it is unlikely Syrian exports will recover anywhere close
to the 2011 levels in the short and medium terms because the country’s
production capacity has been largely destroyed”.
For now, at least, Nassib’s reopening is good news for Syrian tradesmen
forced into costlier, lengthier maritime shipping since 2015.
Among them, Syrian businessman Farouk Joud was looking forward to being
able to finally import goods from Jordan and the United Arab Emirates via
land.
Before 2015, “it would take maximum three days for us to receive goods,
but via the sea it takes a whole month,” he told AFP.
Importing goods until recently has involved a circuitous maritime route
from the Jordanian port of Aqaba via the Suez Canal, and up to a regime-held
port in the northwest of the country.
“It costs twice as much as land transport via Nassib,” Joud said.
Syrian parliament member Hadi Sharaf was equally enthusiastic about fresh
opportunities for Syrian exports.
“Exporting (fruit and) vegetables will have a positive economic impact,
especially for much-demanded citrus fruit to Iraq,” he told AFP.
Before Syria’s war broke out in 2011, neighbouring Iraq was the first
destination of Syria’s non-oil exports.
– Customs fees –
The parliamentarian also hoped the revived trade route on Syria’s southern
border would swell state coffers with much-needed dollars.
Before the conflict, the Nassib crossing raked in $2 million in customs
fees, Sharaf said.
Last month, Syria’s Prime Minister Imad Khamis said fees at Nassib for a
four-tonne truck had been increased from $10 to $62.
Syria’s foreign reserves have been almost depleted due to the drop in oil
exports, loss of tourism revenues and sanctions, the World Bank says.
And the local currency has lost around 90 percent of its value since the
start of the war.
Lebanese businessmen are also delighted, as they can now reach other
countries in the region by sending lorries through Syria and its southern
border crossing.
Lebanon’s farmers “used to export more than 70 percent of their produce to
Arab countries via this strategic crossing,” said Bechara al-Asmar, head of
Lebanon’s labour union.
Despite recent victories, Damascus still controls only half of the 19
crossings along Syria’s lengthy borders with Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and
Turkey.
Damascus and Baghdad have said the Albukamal crossing with Iraq in eastern
Syria will open soon, but did not give a specific date.
Beyond trade, there is even hope that the Nassib crossing reopening might
bring some tourists back to Syria.
A Jordanian travel agency recently posted on Facebook that it was
organising daily trips to the Syrian capital by “safe and air-conditioned”
bus from Monday.
“Who among us doesn’t miss the good old days in Syria?” it said.