‘Public-Private partnership required’

Local economy has been affected by uprising in Syria: Adnan Kassar

July 6, 2011- Head of the private economic bodies Adnan Kassar said it is too soon to judge the effect of the government formation on the country’s economy, but that the formation relieved tensions that had prevailed over the period of cabinet deadlock.

In an interview reported by An-Nahar daily on Tuesday (July 5), Kassar said the growth rate could drop to two percent in the first quarter of this year and 2.5 percent in the second quarter, compared to seven and nine percent in 2010 and 2009 respectively.

Kassar said the country’s economy has been affected by the uprising in Syria due to bilateral economic agreements, mainly pertaining to the transit activity through the land borders. He said figures of the first quarter of 2011 showed an annual increase in exports of around four percent due to contracts signed in late 2010. He expected import and export activities across land borders this year to recoil in light of soaring transport charges, which rose by 30 percent with the global rise in oil prices.

Kassar called for embarking on an all-inclusive reform process, with a particular emphasis on Public Private Partnership, which he said is crucial for any development agenda. He said the country’s economic bodies will follow up on the government’s conduct in order to take the needed steps to restore a rising trend to growth indicators. The economic bodies will work to enhance the role of the private sector in development, but new measures should be taken to enhance the competitiveness of the economy, said Kassar.