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Economy Guide
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Agricultural Sector Development: The agricultural sector contributes to the GNP with 21%. It absorbs 27% of the manpower in Syria. Therefore, it is considered one the most important pillars on which the Syrian economic structure is based. This is so because of a number of elements namely:
Annual water resources are estimated at 22 billion cubic meters, of which 12 billion m3 come from the Euphrates River and 10 billion m3 comprised of 4.276 billion m3 of surface, valley and flood water and 2.016 billion m3 of well water. Development of the Industrial Sector: The industrial sector in Syria formed about 27% of the set-up of the GNP in 1994. In this sector some 17% of the work force in Syria is employed and the converting industries sector formed about 76.5% of the total industrial output in 1993. Syria is characterized by a diversified industrial based, foremost of these industries is oil refining, phosphate extraction, chemical, foodstuff and textile industries, salt extraction, in addition to cast iron and steel industry, and cement, sugar and fertilizer industry. The government exerts to upgrade the performance of the public-sector industrial plants which contributed to 68% of the gross industrial output and about 57% of the gross converting industries output. The new reforms have opened the door wide to the private sector to enter the fields of strategic industries which the public sector had earlier dominated, like sugar industry, cement and batteries. Development of the Oil Sector: Excavation operations in Syria began in 1930, and the first oil discovery took place in Karchook, north east of the country, in 1956 . Most of the discoveries which took place before 1984 were heavy crude. Therefore, Syria used to import her needs of light crude, then. Right from 1984, light crude has been discovered in Deir-ez-Zour area, east of Syria, where over 14 foreign companies are operating by service contracts to carry out works of survey, excavation, drilling and extracting oil. The Syrian Petroleum co. Supervises the works of these companies. Estimates indicates that oil reserves in Syria would not last for more than 15-20 years, but hopes are pinned on discovering new oil fields. The oil sector is considered one of the essential sectors which contribute to financing the Syrian economy because of the high revenues of the Syrian oil exports. As for natural gas, Syria has great reserves in north-east of the country, in the area surrounding jbessh and in Palmyra mid-area. The government is working within an integrated policy to replace the fluid fuel with the natural gas in generating electricity and in some major industries like the fertilizer and cement factories, oil refines and cast iron and steel factories. And in order to make sue of the combined gas which was burnt in the oil fields, the Government set up four stations for gathering and separating gas in a number of fields in Deir-ez-Zour to be processed and transported to places of consumption. Of the important industries in the Syrian economy is the phosphate industry, whose reserves have developed to amount one billion tons in 1992. Phosphate is found in three quarries in Khneifis area near Palymra, but output has recessed from a record rate of 2.3 million ton in 1989 to about 1.2 million to in 1993. The fertilizer factory is being supplied with phosphates and surplus is exported to foreign markets. Insurance Sector and Stock Markets: The insurance sector in Syria is a governmental sector sponsored by the Central Syrian Insurance Establishment, the only establishment present of all kinds of insurance and re-insurance. There is a trend to set up a joint-sector establishment for insurance operations and a stock market.
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