CHICAGO: Syrian officials on Monday urged the US to remove the “State Sponsor of Terrorism” designation so their country can fully recover from decades of Baathist rule.
During a panel discussion hosted by the Middle East Institute and attended by Arab News, Central Bank Gov. Abdulkader Husrieh and Finance Minister Mohammed Yisr Barnieh said the new government has proven that it is committed to “full transparency” and “openness.”
Since the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, despite progress fighting terrorism and rebuilding the nation, businesses worldwide have been hesitant to invest because of SST-related sanctions, they said.
“The sanctions, the SST, is a challenge for us,” Husrieh said, adding that much progress has been made in engaging Syrian civil and business societies in the decisions and actions of the new government.
“Now we have a liquidity problem. This liquidity problem stems from internal and external. If you don’t have transfers from abroad, we don’t have the required liquidity in the market.
“Once we have these transfers operational and possible, then we’ll have liquidity coming from outside.”
Husrieh said the goal is to build trust between international financial institutions and the Syrian Arab Republic’s government and banking system.
The SST can be removed in a short period of time, he argued, because of Syria’s rejection of terrorism and its “full transparency.”
Husrieh compared the magnitude of Syria’s transformation to the collapse of the Berlin Wall, which ushered in a rebuilding of Europe and promoted freedom and government transparency.
“I think in that process there are two options. The first option takes longer, like six months or more, based on certification,” he said.
“The second option takes 45 days in case of major change in the regime, in the administration, in the country subject to this designation.
“I think this applies to us because there’s major change. All those who were involved in terrorism or were suspected of terrorism aren’t there anymore.”
The SST restrictions were imposed in 1979, blocking all US assistance, including bans on defense exports and sales, and tight restrictions on dual-use items. The 2019 Caesar Act reenforced severe sanctions on the former regime.
American and non-American business entities were prohibited from doing business with Syria.
Barnieh said the Syrian people “inherited a system of very weak institutions, very low-capacity building, a financial system that wasn’t functioning.”
This, he added, fueled a public perception of government corruption that has weakened efforts to rebuild the nation.
“We want to show that we’re committed to fight corruption, we’re committed to build trust with the public, we’re committed to have the highest respect in terms of managing the public finances,” Barnieh said, adding that for the first time, the Syrian government has made its official budget spending plan public.
“For the first time ever in the history of Syria, our spending on education, healthcare and social services exceeds spending on defense and security,” he said.
This year, “close to 40 percent of the budget is allocated to healthcare, education and social services. That’s a clear message that … despite the great need for security spending, we’re keen to show our focus … is on education and healthcare.”
Wael Alzayat, executive director of the US-Syria Business Council, said Syria has made amazing progress toward democracy and transparency at every level of government.
“Unwinding the Iraq sanctions after Saddam was removed took years … These kinds of measures are pretty easy to put on but very difficult to get rid of,” he added.
“Having said that, Syria is a member of the counter-ISIS (Daesh) coalition, which is again a surreal, historic development where this government is now a partner against terrorism.
“It makes no sense for this SST designation to remain, and we hope that it will be removed soon.”
