Panel Session One
Transformed Business Environment: International viewpoint
Moderated by: Wafic Said, Chairman, Said Holdings Limited

Speaking Notes

Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, good morning. Welcome to this first panel session of the Conference.

It is my great pleasure to be moderating our panel of distinguished speakers - a pleasure because I have performed a similar role on a number of occasions, thanks to the British Syrian Society, and each time I have been so impressed by the frankness of all our participants, from the government as well as the private sector, from Syria as well as from abroad.

This openness testifies to the Government’s determined commitment to reform and also testifies to the desire of many individuals and businesses inside and outside Syria, to see Syria adopt a free market economy and the open, stable and efficient institutions to support it.

The Government’s Five-Year Plan for 2006 to 2010 was new when we attended the British Syrian Society’s banking conference in Damascus this time last year. It sets out a vision in which the country will have moved by 2020 from a centrally planned to a social market economy. The Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, Dr Abdullah Dardari, explained, at that conference last year, that the Plan constitutes a package of structural reforms concentrating on a number of priorities in the areas of politics, finance, trade and investment. Dr Dardari described it as a starting point for Syria’s gradual integration into the global economy and we look forward to hearing from him how the Plan is being implemented.

Our panel session is entitled “Transformed Business Environment: International viewpoint”. We will soon be approaching the mid-point of the current Five-Year Plan so now is a good time to review the situation and to ask what progress has been made in transforming the business environment.

There are many questions to be addressed. For example - Have the necessary changes taken place in banking, property rules, the public service, the tax system? Has the legal system, one of the pillars of a successful economy, been reformed? These are just some of the areas which are essential for the right business environment. My personal view is that significant progress has been made – and the commitment is there - but we also have to ask:

• How is this progress perceived by the international business community?
• Do international investors and businessmen have enough confidence to invest in Syria?
• And if not, why not?
• Is the business environment transparent with the right level of regulatory control?
• What more needs to be done?

I look forward eagerly to hearing our speakers’ views on some of these questions.

Concluding Remarks

I am afraid we are going to have to stop there but I am sure you will have further opportunities to raise your questions and discuss the issues.

I think we can conclude by saying that the business environment for the international businessman in Syria has been transformed over the last few years. There has been good progress but it is uneven – reform is advanced in some areas but not others and there is still much more to be done if Syria is to attract a high level of international investment.

Once again, I am most grateful to our three speakers and to everyone who has participated in this session. We now deserve a coffee break! Could you kindly return to your seats promptly at 11.15 when His Excellency Dr Abdullah Dardari, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, will be giving the first keynote speech, one of the highlights of our conference.