DAMASCUS (Dispatches) - Companies from dozens of countries have been showing their wares at the Damascus International Fair, but those from two in particular are getting special treatment – Russia and Iran.
Firms from the top two wartime allies of Syria’s government are set up in an entirely separate building, hinting at the preferred status they hope to enjoy as the country tries to transition into reconstruction.
Packed pavilions feature Iranian cars and carpets, Russian wires and cables – and translators ready to help Syrian businessmen connect with potential foreign partners.
A flat-screen television in the Russian wing plays a sleek advertisement for Libena Agro Build, a metalworking company that produces farming equipment and grain silos.
"Foreign companies are scrambling and competing to invest in Syria, but Russia’s got preference,” its regional representative, Lebanese-Russian national Leba Shehadeh, said. "We were the ones defending Syria politically and militarily, so we expect the lion’s share of the economy and of the reconstruction phase.”
He flips through a pamphlet of irrigation products, metal recycling services, molds and more.
"Syria needs all this equipment,” Shehadeh told AFP, saying Libena Agro was aiming for large-scale deals with Damascus. "We’re here so that, together, we can draw the plan for rebuilding this country.”
Assad has pledged to make reconstruction his top priority, saying Syria’s "allies” would be the only ones allowed to take part.
Even during war, Russian companies have invested in Syria’s oil, gas and mining sectors and won contracts to build flour mills and water-pumping stations.
Syrian state companies have also issued tenders open exclusively to Iranian companies, according to the economic magazine Syria Report.
********Visitors walk past cars displayed at the Ira