The international community observes “Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Day” on June 27th each year. This official occasion was established by the United Nations General Assembly in Resolution 71/279 to recognize the significant contribution of emerging businesses and local workshops to supporting economic stability and combating poverty and unemployment.
This year, in 2026, as Syria embarks on its historic transition following the fall of the authoritarian regime, this day underscores the crucial role of supporting small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as an indispensable pillar for moving from a “relief economy” to a “sustainable development economy.”
The Syrian Future Movement believes that SMEs (such as industrial, agricultural, and service workshops) are the true and only engine for revitalizing the Syrian economy during this transitional phase. Building a new Syria begins not only with large-scale, cross-border projects, but primarily with the restoration and rehabilitation of local businesses owned and operated by citizens and returning residents to secure their immediate livelihoods.
The Syrian Future Movement emphasizes the importance of reports issued by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), which document that more than 82% of the physical damage caused by the war is concentrated in the infrastructure, manufacturing, and services sectors, negatively impacting the sustainability of small economic enterprises in Syria.
We believe this reality necessitates an urgent, institutionalized national strategy to revitalize this vital sector and inject new life into local markets.
The Syrian Future Movement emphasizes that the return of millions of refugees and internally displaced persons to their cities and villages at this stage presents an unprecedented investment and development opportunity. Returnees bring with them professional and vocational expertise, as well as small amounts of capital capable of immediately restarting the production cycle, provided a supportive legal environment is established to protect them from bureaucracy and negative financial practices.
The Syrian Future Movement believes that empowering Syrian women and youth in the labor market inevitably requires the establishment of micro-enterprise incubators. Development projections for 2026 confirm that supporting home-based and emerging businesses led by women breadwinners is a fundamental pillar for reducing the escalating rates of poverty and unemployment in local communities, making it a truly social and sovereign investment.
We believe that shaping the future of Syria as a welfare and prosperous nation requires directing the savings and remittances of expatriates towards productive, collaborative investment, and transforming international aid from emergency food baskets into loans. Productivity and work tools that grant Syrians economic independence and preserve their human dignity.
Based on the above, the Syrian Future Movement puts forward the following recommendations:
- Issuance of the “Law for the Protection and Promotion of Small Projects of 2026”: Urging the legislative authority in the transitional government to enact a modern law that grants small and micro enterprises full tax and customs exemptions for three years, protects them from monopolies, and facilitates their licensing procedures through a “single digital window.”
- Establishment of the “National Bank for Development and Microfinance”: An immediate call for the establishment of a government-owned, participatory bank specializing in providing very affordable loans with no interest (or nominal interest) to young people, women, and returnees, to provide them with the initial capital to launch their workshops and productive projects.
- Establishment of joint technological and vocational incubators: Directing the transitional provincial councils and civil society organizations to establish free technical training and consulting centers that help small business owners improve the quality of their products, market them electronically, and connect them to regional and international markets to reintegrate the Syrian economy into the global system.
