(MENAFN) The Turkish business community remains optimistic about Syria’s future following the fall of the long-standing Baathist regime. Mustafa Gultepe, the head of the Türkiye Exporters Assembly (TIM), expressed his hope that Syria has entered a new era, one that could bring peace and stability to the region, even though predicting the future trajectory of the country remains challenging. Gultepe emphasized Syria’s strategic importance for Turkey, particularly due to the shared 900-kilometer (560-mile) border between the two nations.

Gultepe noted that prior to the 2011 civil war, Turkey and Syria had been working to increase their foreign trade volume from USD1.4 billion in 2008 to USD5 billion. Although the war severely impacted their trade efforts, Turkish exports to Syria continued to grow.

In 2011, Turkish exports to Syria totaled USD1.6 billion, but this figure dropped dramatically the following year to USD498 million due to the civil war. Despite these setbacks, Turkish exports surpassed USD2 billion between 2021 and 2023, and in the first 11 months of 2024, exports reached USD1.9 billion, marking a 4.6 percent increase from the previous year.

The grain sector was the largest contributor to Turkish exports to Syria, amounting to USD457 million, followed by chemicals at USD151 million, electronics at USD126 million, steel at USD117 million, and aquaculture products at USD88 million. Gultepe believes that a peaceful and stable Syria with a functioning administration will foster growth in exports across various sectors. One area that could particularly benefit from this stability is Syria’s reconstruction.

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