Documenting Participation and the Speech of the President of the Syrian Future Movement at the First Investment Conference in Northern Syria
The First Investment Conference in Northern Syria concluded with a final statement, emphasizing that the region is embarking on a new chapter in the history of the Syrian revolution. This chapter is marked by the revitalization of the investment sector, under the banner “Investment… Stability… Development and Prosperity.”
The statement highlighted that this conference marks the beginning of a serious, sustained, and diligent effort to rejuvenate the investment sector, initiate projects, and facilitate ongoing networking between local and expatriate investors.
Dr. Zaher Baadarani, the leader of the Syrian Future Movement (SFM), met with several official figures and civil society representatives who played major roles in organizing the conference. These meetings, conducted on the first day before the release of the statement, focused on the importance of such conferences in stimulating the local economy, generating employment opportunities, reducing unemployment, and enhancing the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Dr. Baadarani and his delegation were greeted at the entrance of the Al-Rai Industrial City by Mr. Abdel Hakim Al-Masri, Minister of Finance and Economy in the Syrian Interim Government, and Dr. Basem Hatahet, founder of the Syrian Center for International Relations and Strategic Studies, and a member of the European Union for Civil Society Organizations. They were accompanied by Mr. Ali Halak, head of the Conference Organizing Committee, Mr. Khaled Al-Ahmad, and Mr. Hussein Issa, among others.
The Minister of Finance and Economy escorted Dr. Baadarani and his delegation to the conference’s special meeting room. There, they discussed the challenges and potential solutions for investment in the liberated Syrian areas, and the role of the SFM and relevant international stakeholders in addressing these issues.
A special meeting was also held with Dr. Basem Hatahet and a guest from the European Union from Italy, focusing on the importance of this initiative in Northern Syria.
The discussion emphasized working on enhancing the positives and overcoming the negatives or mistakes to improve coordination and preparation for future conferences. Dr. Baadarani stressed that successful investment begins by focusing on investors themselves and working with them to remove barriers.
The Syrian Future Movement has paid significant attention to investment as a means of societal development and national reconstruction. This begins with individual development and enhancing knowledge and science within society.
They believe that the foundation of any society’s advancement starts with the individual, followed by the implementation of developmental projects and vocational training to equip people with skills for the job market, transforming them from consumers into producers.
Here is the text of the speech scheduled to be delivered by the president of the Syrian Future Movement, which the Minister of Finance and Economy had received a copy of:
First Investment Conference in Northern Syria
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Investment, derived from the concept of fruit, is immune to deceit, unlike claims of patriotism or religiosity. An investment’s value lies in its visible, tangible results, backed by specific statistics and well-planned strategies, which we aspire for in this esteemed conference.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Assad’s policy was to blame others for his failures while claiming every illusion of success for himself. Thus, it’s the responsibility of the conference’s administration to ensure its success (not its failure) and to implement our findings in reality (the most crucial aspect), to achieve the desired results.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Any investment activity requires a safe environment for success. Have the organizers considered the ongoing war between Turkey and the SDF, for example? Isn’t there a risk of targeting by the SDF or the Assad regime? Do the organizers have real, convincing solutions for investors worried about their capital and investments? What about the widespread checkpoints, cantons, border conditions, and diverse factions? Is there a solution to these issues? I don’t want to be pessimistic, but success in investment (not just the conference) under these challenges would be a miraculous feat.
In conclusion:
The Syrian Future Movement recommends the following for successful investment in Syria:
- Secure international patronage, starting with Turkey and then the European Union, to persuade the international community of the need to protect Northern Syria from Russian, Iranian, Syrian regime, or SDF aggression.
- Use the refugee issue to garner Turkish and European support and protection, turning our region into a hub for refugees through security and investment growth.
- Attract global banking power through policies that meet international standards, ensuring complete transparency and confidentiality for clients. Banks are the economic levers of any country, pumping money and creating investments to eradicate unemployment.
- Follow the successful Erbil model in security management, eliminating all checkpoints and taxes in the region.
- Explicitly adopt liberal capitalism, ensuring capital safety, and individual freedom for any project in compliance with international laws.
- Require that the workforce for the next ten years be exclusively Syrian, with minimum wage standards and well-considered workers’ rights, including health insurance.
- Allow the free market to guide investments, avoiding the politicization and manipulation of market movements.
- Introduce international insurance companies to Northern Syria to attract cautious investment.
- Emphasize the need to support the economy of areas outside the Syrian regime’s control, as a gateway to our project for unifying them on the model of West Germany.
We at the Syrian Future Movement sincerely hope for the conference’s actual success, not just as a media distraction, and that our recommendations are advanced and progressive. We aspire for the Al-Rai Conference to be the foundation stone and a part of a comprehensive Syrian economic vision, encompassing not just liberated areas but all of unified Syria.
Dr. Zaher Baadarani
President of the Syrian Future Movement
January 17-18, 2024
