Syria is on an urgent legislative package to reform the capital market

Syrian officials are working on a large package of legislation aimed at reforming the organizational environment for the capital market, which includes the trading system and the freedom of capital movement, and adds new financing and savings instruments, in addition to the reform of investments, businesses and tax laws, according to Shadi Bitar, Vice Chairman of the Syrian Paper and Financial Markets. He explained in an interview with “Al -Sharq” that the government works with the Central Bank of Syria to reformulate instructions related to the freedom of entry and retirement of local and foreign capital, to solve the problem of poor liquidity and to give investment seriousness to the Syrian market. He pointed out that these instructions are under urgent study and that “will be issued soon.” The Damascus market attempts to link with the rest of the markets. The Damascus security market resumed its activities on Monday after a stop that lasted about 6 months, in an official presence, and a wide participation in economic figures, investors and traders. Bitar pointed out that the target is the expansion of the Damascus security market to attract a larger number of local, Arab and foreign enterprises, and noted that work is also underway to digitize the market and link it with Arab and international markets. The addition of financing and savings instruments The Syrian financial Markets Authority is to add new financing, savings and investment instruments, including investment funds, collective financing platforms to provide financial instruments for small and medium-sized companies, and green stocks to finance renewable energy projects, which is also brought about are among being. As for the exchange rate of the lira, the Syrian official said it certainly affects all aspects of the economy, including the capital markets, and noted that the government places the handling of the instability of the local currency within its priorities, through economic reforms, to restore production, industry and exports that support the exchange. Syria plans for external tours to support the market development, Bitar emphasized that Syria is open to the Arab and foreign world, and welcomes foreign investment and all initiatives in all areas, including those related to the stock market. He said the government would take tours for Arab and foreign countries to help them develop the market. The market was established in March 2009 until the first official exchange in Syria in decades. Only six companies – most of them in the banking and insurance sectors – were launched with a total capital of about $ 1.2 billion. Soon there was a remarkable expansion, as the number of listed companies increased by mid -2010 to 14, driven by a positive performance of the index, which then scored 12.6%. In the war years, by the end of 2010, the index fell from its peak from 1719 points to about 770 points by the end of 2012. The market value dropped from $ 3.15 billion in early 2011 to around $ 310 million in October 2016, and fluctuations increased during the year 2020 and 2021, in the light of the accelerated collapse of the Lira legislation, “Caesar law” in June, and the standard inflation resulted from the “2020.