The Syrian government has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) worth $800 million with DP World to develop Syria’s port of Tartous, Syrian state news agency SANA said on Friday, days after US President Donald Trump announced to lif US sanctions on the country.
The deal is said to be the biggest MoU by far for Syria’s transitional government under interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa. The deal to develop, manage and operate a multi-purpose terminal at Tartous includes cooperation in establishing industrial and free trade zones, news agency Reuters said.
The two sides also agreed to cooperate in establishing industrial zones and free zones in addition to dry ports and freight transit stations in a number of strategic areas within Syria, reflecting both parties’ commitment to supporting economic development and facilitating trade and transport.
DP World is a subsidiary of United Arab Emirates (UAE) investment company Dubai World.
Syria is seeking to attract foreign investments to boost its struggling economy, and the deal was signed days after President Donald Trump announced plans to lift of sanctions on Syria during a visit to Riyadh.
On 14 May, Trump became the first US president in 25 years to meet a Syrian leader after he met Ahmed al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia after offering sanctions relief in hopes of offering a new path to the war-battered country.
Trump said he took the decision to lift sanctions after discussions with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, whose governments have both strongly urged the lifting of sanctions.
Sanctions on Syria
The Syrian sanctions were put during the reign of President Bashar al-Assad to, perhaps, inflict pain on his regime but ended up with devastating economic fallout for Syrian civilians. Assad governed the country from 1971 to 2024.
Trump, who just visited Saudi Arabia, Qatar and UAE in the Middle East, said the sanctions had served an important function and that it was time for Syria to move forward.
The US has yet to formally recognise Al-Sharaa’s government. The Trump administration had been weighing its approach since former President Joe Biden left the decision open, amid growing international momentum for re-engagement with Damascus.
Trump’s latest move to list sanctions marks a major shift in US policy. The US declared Syria a state sponsor of terrorism in 1979, which led to an arms embargo and financial restrictions, including on foreign assistance.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on 15 May that Trump intends to issue waivers under the “Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act”, through which Washington imposed stiff sanctions on former President Bashar al-Assad’s government and secondary sanctions on outside companies or governments that worked with it.
Why remove sanctions now?
Syria has been trying to convince the US that it is not a threat but a potential partner and that it was engaged in indirect talks with Israel to de-escalate tensions with the US’s Middle Eastern ally– despite Israel’s bombing of Syria and occupation of its territory, news agency Reuters said last week.
Also, Al Sharaa has slowly been gaining international legitimacy for his government since it came to power in December 2024 after toppling Assad. The Syrian president, a former ‘terrorist’, has been able to travel internationally and meet world leaders.
The deal reflects both parties’ commitment to supporting economic development and facilitating trade and transport.
The new Syrian government led by Sharaa has been projecting itself as a moderate force that could be acceptable to the international community, including by distancing itself from designated ‘terrorist’ groups.
Sharaa’s dispensation has also promised to cooperate with other countries on ‘counterterrorism’ measures and supporting minority rights. This assumes significance amid sectarian fighting involving pro-government forces and minority groups after the fall of Al-Assad in Syria.