By Feras Dalatey
DUBAI, May 12 (Reuters) – Trade between the United Arab Emirates and Syria more than doubled in 2025 and has further to grow, a UAE minister said on Tuesday, addressing a Damascus investment forum that signalled rapidly warming ties between the states.
UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade Thani Al Zeyoudi told the first Syrian-Emirati Investment Forum that non-oil trade between the United Arab Emirates and Syria reached a record $1.4 billion in 2025, up 132% from the previous year. He said the increase opens prospects for expanding bilateral trade.
The Syrian and Emirati sides reached a series of preliminary agreements on dozens of investment projects in the tourism, construction, infrastructure, agriculture, aviation and logistics sectors during the two-day event.
The UAE, a strong opponent of Islamist movements across the Middle East, has moved more slowly than Saudi Arabia and Qatar in expanding ties with the new Syrian government led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former al Qaeda commander.
But a gradual improvement in ties has accelerated since the start of the Iran war, as the UAE came under Iranian attack and Sharaa repeatedly expressed solidarity with Abu Dhabi.
Anwar Gargash, top diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, said in April Syria was among the most prominent Arab countries that “held a positive stance towards the UAE”.
The investment forum was held at the Presidential Palace in Damascus and attended by Sharaa, ministers and senior officials from both countries.
Mohamed Alabbar, founder of Emirati real estate development giant Emaar, said the company was studying projects in Damascus worth up to $12 billion, and projects on Syria’s coast worth up to $7 billion.
Syrian Economy and Industry Minister Nidal Shaar said the two sides had agreed to form a Syrian technical delegation to visit the UAE in the coming period to develop a comprehensive plan and implementation roadmap for the recent agreements.
Etihad Airways, the UAE’s national carrier, on Monday announced the resumption of flights between Abu Dhabi and Damascus in mid-June, after suspending operations in 2012 following the outbreak of the Syrian conflict.
Syria has been seeking to attract foreign investment to support an economy devastated by more than a decade of war and Western sanctions, most of which were lifted at the end of last year.
Over the past year, Damascus has signed several billion-dollar memoranda of understanding with Gulf investors, including companies from Saudi Arabia and Qatar, while also securing deals with U.S. companies, like the oil and gas deep-water exploration deal with Chevron.
(Reporting by Feras Dalatey in Dubai; Editing by Tom Perry/Keith Weir)
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