Syrian industrialists mock government’s invitation to return and invest in Syria
DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) – Residents inside and outside Syria dealt with a lot of “sarcasm” with the Syrian government’s invitation to the industrialists abroad to return and invest in Syria.
Earlier, the Syrian Minister of Industry, Dr. Ziyad Sabbagh, issued a decision to form a committee whose mission is to communicate with Syrian businessmen and industrialists abroad to attract and encourage them to continue their work and activities inside Syria.
The decision included raising the necessary proposals to remove the difficulties facing their return to invest in Syria.
One of the industrialists in Damascus, who preferred not to be named, told North Press that this decision needs to be amended, because it should be “to persuade them to think more than once in case they want to return.”
He added that there are many around him who are preparing themselves to emigrate, and that the emigration is no longer confined to young people, but rather it spread among the capital owners.
Regarding the most prominent motives for emigration, the industrialist said that the search for a source of livelihood without fear of imprisonment, taxes and customs is among the list of reasons.
Taking care of the remained
While a shoe dealer in Tartous Governorate, who was contacted via the WhatsApp, commenting on this decision, said that the best they can do is “to preserve those who are still here.”
He described those in charge of economics now as “they do not understand anything about economics”, and they think it is a “lunch determination.”
Another industrialist commented on this decision saying sarcastically, “We are the committee in charge of inviting you to return. Would you like to come to your country to pay taxes at 200%, and to buy generators for your factory, and this needs gasoline, but gasoline is not available, and electricity is not available, either?”
He also noted the need for workers, “They are there, but there is no transportation to take them to your factory! But you can go back because the bundle of bread reaches you in a nylon bag.”
Abdullah al-Ahmed, 35, a pseudonym for a worker in a food factory in Damascus, told North Press that he has been on an open leave for a month, and he does not know the reasons for it.
However, according to what is being circulated, the owner of the factory decided to transfer his business to Turkey, “and they are still waiting for their fate. Will the factory be closed here, or will it reduce its work?”
The worker added that he was getting a rewarding salary to add to his salary from his job as an engineer in the public sector, which enabled him to secure the requirements of life with a new baby.
But the owner of the factory was “always resentful of the difficulties of working with the shortage of everything, and the adoption of a policy of collection that reaches the level of looting and the force of the sword of Damocles imposed on the necks, in addition to the threat of imprisonment and heavy fines.”
hostile decisions
A manager of an electronics company in Damascus described the government staff’s behavior as “antagonizing the merchants and industrialists, and dealing with them as if they are enemies, so it works to loot them and hold them responsible for rising prices and mobilizing the public opinion against them.”
While one of the industrialists from Aleppo, who is participating in one of the current exhibitions, only said: “Aleppo merchants, who are working hard to continue their work, only want to leave them alone.”
“Those who follow the government’s way of dealing with them, will not think of returning to Syria in exchange for the facilities and care that the industrialists, who have transferred their businesses to Egypt, Turkey and others, enjoy,” he added.
In a statement to a local media, Ammar Youssef, an economist, described the decision as “disgraceful” because the government is asking business owners to return to the country, while those who are currently in the country are thinking of leaving due to the difficulties they face and the absence of any incentives to attract them.
Youssef stressed, “the decision to leave the country was not only due to terrorism and militants in Syria, but also because of ill-considered government decisions,” which increased pressure on them.
In his recent interview with a local media outlet, the Syrian Prime Minister, Hussein Arnous, indicated that the reason for the deterioration of the electricity situation is the systematic sabotage of power plants and power transmission lines.