Syria to sign 44 agreements worth nearly $6 billion with Saudi Arabia
The Gulf kingdom has been a crucial supporter of interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa's government, which came to power after toppling longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December and is now seeking to rebuild Syria after a 14-year civil war.
Saudi Investment Minister Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al-Falih, who brought around 130 Saudi businesspeople to Damascus, is set to hold meetings with Syria's leadership ahead of a two-day investment conference opening on Wednesday, according to people due to attend.
KSA adds $600m to $2.2bn investment
Syrian Information Minister Hamza al-Moustafa said at a press conference on Wednesday that Syria will sign 44 agreements with Saudi Arabia estimated to be worth nearly $6 billion.
The agreements cover various sectors, including energy, telecommunications, financial and banking, investment funds and others, the minister said.
Some of the agreements will be signed between the government and private companies, he said.
Saudi state-run Al Ekhbariya television reported on Tuesday that the agreements to be signed between Damascus and Riyadh would be worth over $4 billion.
During his visit to Syria, Saudi Arabia's Al-Falih and his Syrian counterpart launched a cement factory project on Wednesday in Adra Industrial City in the Damascus countryside, the first white cement production project in the country, with an investment worth $20 million, Syrian state news agency SANA said.
Al-Falih also broke ground on an integrated retail project by Saudi investment firm Ethraa Holding that is worth 375 million riyals ($99.96 million) in investments.
Saudi Arabia has shown interest in Syria's energy and hospitality sectors, as well as airports, a diplomat and a Syrian businessman familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The two countries are also expected to launch a joint business council, said the Syrian businessman.
The investment conference had initially been scheduled to take place in June, but was delayed due to the war between Iran and Israel. It is going ahead this week despite sectarian clashes in Syria's southern city of Sweida that have left hundreds dead.
The violence is a reminder of the lingering instability in Syria, even as foreign investors explore opportunities.
Companies, many from Gulf states and Turkey, have expressed interest in rebuilding Syria's power generation capacity, roads, ports and other damaged infrastructure.
Syria has signed a $7 billion power deal with Qatar and an $800 million agreement with UAE-based port company DP World in recent months. U.S. energy firms are also set to draw up a master plan for the country's energy sector.
KSA investment minister arrives
For its part, Saudi Arabia, along with Qatar, paid off Syria's World Bank arrears, opening the possibility of new lending.
Syria's al-Sharaa made his first trip abroad as president, to Saudi Arabia in February. And the kingdom's Crown Prince and de-facto ruler Mohammed Bin Salman successfully lobbied U.S. President Donald Trump to lift sanctions seen as holding back private investment.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Recorder
an hour ago
- Business Recorder
Amlak Finance and DEWA Lead Dubai's Recovery; Abu Dhabi edges lower
The Dubai index ended Friday on a positive note, led by investor optimism that U.S. interest rates could decline further this year, while Abu Dhabi headed in the opposite direction to finish lower. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he would nominate Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Stephen Miran tofill a vacant seat at the Fed for a few months, while the White House seeks a permanent addition to the central bank's governing board and continues its search for a new chair. Miran holds similar views to Trump, who has berated Chair Jerome Powell for being 'too late' in cutting interest rates, even though growth is holding up and inflation is ticking higher. The Fed's decisions impact monetary policy in the Gulf, where most currencies, including the UAE dirham, are pegged to the U.S. dollar. Dubai's main index rebounded on Friday, recovering from two sessions of losses with the index settling 0.3% higher. Gains were underpinned by a 5.3% surge in Amlak Finance and a 0.6% increase in Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation. State-run utility giant Dubai Electricity And Water Authority rose 0.4% after second-quarter net profit jumped more than 25% to 2.26 billion dirhams ($615.3 million). Gulf equities end mixed on corporate earnings; Egypt on new record high By contrast Abu Dhabi's benchmark index slipped 0.1%, weighed down by a 1.2% decline in Sharjah-based Dana Gas and a 2% decline in UAE's largest telecom provider Emirates Telecommunication Group (better known as E&). Dana Gas reported a 12% decrease in its second-quarter net profit to AED 112 million ($30.5 million) on the back of reduced oil production volumes. Losses in the index were offset by a 0.8% rise in hypermarket operator Lulu Retail Holdings and a 1.7% gain in data analytical firm Alpha Data ahead of their earnings next week. Oil - a key contributor to Gulf economies - was stable at 0.69% to $66.89 a barrel by 1140 GMT. ------------------------------------- ABU DHABI down 0.1% to 10,312 DUBAI DFMGI up 0.3% to 6,149 -------------------------------------
Business Recorder
3 hours ago
- Business Recorder
India tech giant TCS layoffs herald AI shakeup of $283 billion outsourcing sector
BENGALURU: Indian outsourcing giant Tata Consultancy Services' decision to cut over 12,000 jobs signals the start of a broader AI-fueled trend that could end up eliminating around half a million jobs over the next two to three years from the $283 billion sector, experts said. While TCS pegged the move to shed 2% of its workforce to skill mismatches rather than AI-related productivity gains, experts viewed the largest-ever layoffs by India's top private employer as the beginning of things to come in the labour-intensive sector. Roughly 12,200 TCS middle and senior management jobs will be lost. The industry, which has played a crucial role in creating a middle class in India, is increasingly seeing AI being used for everything from basic coding to manual testing and customer support. The sector employed 5.67 million people as of March 2025 and accounted for over 7% of India's GDP. It has a huge multiplier effect due to the direct and indirect jobs it creates and the cars-to-homes consumption it drives in the world's fifth-largest economy. It has historically absorbed a majority of India's engineers but that will change as rising AI use ekes out more efficiencies and demands newer skills that many current employees lack, according to half a dozen industry veterans, analysts, and staffing firms. 'We are in the midst of a massive transition that will transform white-collar work as we know it,' said Silicon Valley-based Constellation Research founder and chairman Ray Wang, echoing other experts who warned that more layoffs are likely on the cards. India's TCS to cut 12,000 jobs The most vulnerable employees include pure people managers with minimal tech knowledge, those in charge of testing or identifying bugs and ensuring user-friendliness before delivering software to clients, and infrastructure management staff who provide basic tech support and ensure networks and servers are working well, experts said. 'About 400,000 to 500,000 professionals are at risk of being laid off over the next two to three years as their skills don't match client demands,' tech market intelligence firm UnearthInsight's founder Gaurav Vasu said, adding that about 70% of those layoffs would impact workers with 4-12 years' experience. 'This (fear stemming from TCS layoffs) may hurt consumer demand for tourism, luxury shopping and even delay long-term investments such as real estate,' Vasu said. TCS and its peers Infosys, HCLTech, Tech Mahindra, Wipro, LTIMindtree, and Cognizant collectively employ over 430,000 workers with 13 to 25 years of experience, according to staffing firm Xpheno. 'At the moment, they may appear like the big fat middle layer,' Xpheno's co-founder Kamal Karanth said. None of the IT firms responded to Reuters queries seeking comment. 'With cost optimization being the key driver for new deal wins, clients are asking for productivity benefits - a trend which is also growing due to the rise in AI adoption. This requires IT firms to do more work with the same number of employees or the same work with fewer employees,' Jefferies analyst Akshat Agarwal said in a research note. Adapt or perish TCS, which had more than 613,000 workers before the layoffs, said in its late July announcement it was gearing up to be 'future-ready' by investing in new technologies, entering new markets, deploying AI at scale for its clients and itself, and realigning its workforce model. It did not answer Reuters queries on how many layoffs were tied to AI adoption and why it could not redeploy the affected employees. 'This is very devastating news,' said a 45-year-old, Kolkata-based TCS employee affected by the latest layoffs. 'It is very difficult for people my age to get new jobs.' Some others who are still at TCS fretted over its mediocre performance bonuses for senior employees in recent quarters, a new 'bench policy' that limits the time somebody could be without a project regardless of personal circumstances or past performance, on-boarding delays, and the emotional turmoil caused by the layoffs. 'All these developments have tanked the morale of mid-career folks like me,' a Pune-based TCS employee said. The Indian outsourcing sector has been a key employment engine since the 1990s, offering upward mobility to millions of engineers. But revenue growth has weakened recently as its clients, stung by inflation and U.S. tariff uncertainty, defer discretionary spending and demand better cost management. 'The tech industry is at an inflection point, as AI and automation move to the very core of how businesses operate,' industry body Nasscom said. During past tech revolutions, disruption was felt at the organisational level. 'With AI, for the first time, the onus is on the individual to reinvent or re-skill themselves,' former Tech Mahindra CEO CP Gurnani said.
Business Recorder
3 hours ago
- Business Recorder
HUBCO shareholders approve $51mn guarantees for Thar-based coal projects
The shareholders of Hub Power Company Limited (HUBCO), Pakistan's largest Independent Power Producer (IPP), have approved the provision of financial guarantees worth up to $51 million to support two of its key Thar-based coal projects, i.e. Thar Energy Limited (TEL) and ThalNova Power Thar (Private) Limited (TN). The IPP disclosed the development in its latest notice to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX). The decision was approved during an extraordinary general meeting (EoGM), held on August 7, 2025, where the company's shareholders passed resolutions authorising guarantees — in the form of standby letters of credit — of up to $31 million for TEL and up to $20 million for TN to cover funding shortfalls through equity and/or subordinated debt. HUBCO proposes $51mn investment in Thar-based coal projects The company has also authorised its top management to negotiate with banks and financial institutions, provide security as required, and execute all necessary agreements and documentation to facilitate the issuance and maintenance of these guarantees. TEL is a 330MW mine-mouth coal-fired power plant located at Thar Block II. HUBCO owns a 60% stake in the company. Meanwhile, TN is also a 330 MW mine-mouth coal-fired power plant established at Thar Block II, Thar Coal Mine, Sindh. HUBCO, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Hub Power Holdings Limited (HPHL), presently holds 38.3% shares in TN. Earlier, HUBCO, in its filing to the PSX, shared that it has already invested approximately $79 million in TEL and $52 million in TN, and both projects operate under the Government of Pakistan's 2015 Power Policy, which offers a 20% return on equity in USD terms.
