DAMASCUS: Syria’s state-operated postal service has resumed parcel deliveries between provinces and reopened international shipping routes, expanded its network and developed financial and digital services as it seeks to reconnect with customers and overseas markets.

Syrian Post’s director general, Emad Al-Din Hamad, said it had opened or reactivated 164 postal offices over the past year and was preparing to launch international money transfers, as it works to restore services disrupted for years by war, and strengthen cooperation with regional and international postal operators.

The organization resumed deliveries of parcels and goods between provinces in May after a gap of more than 10 years. The service currently accepts shipments weighing up to 30 kilograms through central post offices, with plans to extend the network of offices gradually.

The international postal exchange office at Damascus International Airport has also been repaired and returned to use, in cooperation with the Universal Postal Union, Syrian Airlines and customs authorities, Hamad said.

International parcel services resumed on July 1, and the first incoming parcel from Jordan arrived on July 5. On Oct. 1, the organization launched a service for sending parcels to destinations worldwide through the Universal Postal Union’s network.

To expand cross-border e-commerce, Syrian Post said it was working with Qatar Post and Qatar Airways to develop international mail transportation. It is also exploring Qatar Post’s “Connected” platform to facilitate purchases from online marketplaces in Europe and the US, and has held talks with Turkish Post on connecting local delivery services with Turkish e-commerce platforms.

The 164 postal outlets that are now open include 111 reactivated locations (102 offices and nine counters) and 53 new locations (35 offices and 18 counters), Hamad said.

Since March, Syrian Post has also expanded its fleet of mobile offices that serve remote towns, sparsely populated areas and locations where services have been temporarily interrupted by technical problems, he added. The services they offer include pension payments, transactions that use the Sham Cash digital-payment and mobile transfer application, and postal money transfers, reducing the need for residents to travel to dedicated offices.

Syrian Post has also signed agreements with telecommunications businesses Syriatel and MTN to provide mobile top-up and wallet services, and with public universities to offer on-campus postal services. Other services include real-estate registration statements, bank-card facilities, and criminal record certificates issued in coordination with the Interior Ministry.

Syrian Post said it also now offers domestic transfers at more than 300 service points across cities, towns and rural areas. Services include instant transfers, rent payments and the delivery of pensions to retirees’ homes, for a set fee.

Imad Al-Shehadeh, the organization’s postal services director, said statistical indicators showed growth of 20 percent this year compared with 2025, despite 40 percent to 50 percent of offices having previously gone out of service and the still limited geographical reach of the network. The specific reported growth measure was not specified.

The organization said it had obtained a Central Bank of Syria license to conduct international money transfers and planned to launch the service first for Saudi Arabia, followed by Qatar, Jordan, the UAE, Turkiye, Tunisia, Egypt and Morocco. A delegation from Syria visited Morocco Post in Rabat in August to discuss cooperation in financial and banking services, and took part in a forum on postal supply chains.

Syrian Post has signed cooperation agreements with the Jordan Post Company and Saudi Post covering e-commerce, logistics and national addressing services. It has also participated in regional postal meetings and reactivated its membership in the Postal Union for the Mediterranean.

It received a $346,000 grant from the Universal Postal Union’s Quality of Service Fund to improve mail transportation, including the purchase of vans and motorcycles that will be supplied through the UN Development Programme. During a meeting of the union in Bern in May, Syria secured approval for a waiver of interest on debts accumulated since 2009, totaling about 70,000 Swiss francs ($84,000).

Syrian Post also participated in the Universal Postal Union’s Operational Readiness for E-commerce workshop in Doha in September and established a national e-commerce team for the union’s 2026-2029 Dubai cycle, a four-year global postal road map adopted by 192 member countries in 2025.