On Sunday, the UAE’s Economy Minister Abdulla bin Touq Al-Marri announced the agreement that The United Arab Emirates and Syria have agreed to expand their economic cooperation and explore new opportunities.
According to the ministry’s data, the value of non-oil trade between the two countries in 2021’s first half was one billion dirhams ($272 million). The decision came after the economy minister of UAE met with his Syrian counterpart. In an informal meeting outside Dubai Expo 2020, UAE’s economy minister and Syria’s counterpart discussed ways to expand their relationship, according to a news agency.
The UAE reopened its mission to Damascus in late 2018 as a means of countering the influence of non-Arab actors such as Iran and the Turkish government, both of which support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Despite UAE’s support, the Syrian army recaptured most of the territory from the opposition, the UAE and other Arab nations made openings in favor of President Bashar al-Assad’s government.
As per UAE, the US sanctions imposed on war-torn country Syria earlier this year made it more challenging for them to return to the Arab league. The US attempted to prevent any reconstruction efforts or trade deals from being made without first enacting human rights reforms.
