VOL. XLI

No. 18

4-May-1998

SYRIA

Chamber Of Commerce Urges Drastic Reform In Syria

The Damascus Chamber of Commerce has urged the Syrian Government to adopt a series ofeconomic reforms as negotiations with the European Union (EU) over a free trade areabegin. According to the Arabic daily al-Quds al-Arabi, citing the annual report for1997, the Chamber estimates that in the 10-12 year transition phase before all tariffswith the EU are abolished, Syrian GDP will contract by some 30% and budgeted...