Foreign engagement in Syria shifted toward financial and industrial development on Tuesday as French President Emmanuel Macron and Syrian interim leader Ahmad al-Sharaa presided over the creation of joint economic committees and the finalization of comprehensive investment treaties.
According to state-run news agency SANA, the signed memorandums of understanding span multiple critical sectors of the local economy.
The extensive agreements were officially introduced at a high-level corporate assembly hosted inside the People’s Palace. The forum convened state authorities and corporate executives from both nations to map out long-term economic collaboration and orchestrate frameworks to fund Syria's sweeping infrastructure recovery.
During the summit, al-Sharaa extended an open invitation to French enterprises, urging them to lead projects aimed at restoring the country. He noted that Damascus is prioritizing long-term partnerships across core public and commercial domains, including maritime ports, commercial aviation, electrical grids, water treatment networks, medical infrastructure, digital technology, and industrial manufacturing.
Macron remarked that the modern political landscape offers a crucial window to cement regional security and propel rebuilding efforts across Syria. The French head of state actively advocated for broader engagement from French financiers and corporate entities.
Furthermore, Macron announced that the newly formed economic committees would expand their scope to orchestrate these monumental rebuilding programs in direct coordination with Gulf Arab states. He also affirmed that France stands ready to help Syria modernize its domestic banking architecture while bridging relations with global banking institutions to bolster overall financial rehabilitation.
Macron landed in Syria on Monday, marking a groundbreaking geopolitical shift as the first prominent Western head of state to travel to the country since the downfall of Bashar Al-Assad's government in 2024.
The high-stakes visit builds on previous groundwork laid in May 2025, when Macron hosted al-Sharaa for a state visit in Paris.
At that time, the French president actively lobbied the United States and the European Union to dismantle long-standing economic embargoes suffocating Damascus - a diplomatic push that ultimately saw the vast majority of those international trade barriers successfully dismantled.