Syria has formally handed over operations of Tartus port, the second largest port in the country, to the UAE-based logistics company DP World.
DP World officially commenced operations on Wednesday, months after signing a 30-year concession agreement worth $800m with Syria’s General Authority for Land and Sea Ports. The deal has been described as one of the largest global investments in Syria’s logistics sector in years, and aims to turn the port into an efficient trading hub.
"We are committed to applying DP World’s global expertise to build a modern and digitally enabled port that will grow trade, create opportunities and firmly position Tartus as a key trade hub in the Eastern Mediterranean," said Fahad al-Banna, the newly appointed chief executive of DP World Tartus.
DP World said in a statement that it would upgrade the port’s infrastructure, expand its handling and storage capacity and invest in bulk handling systems.
In June, Syria’s government annulled a 2019 agreement between Bashar al-Assad’s administration and the Russian company Stroytransgaz to manage Tartus.
Damascus said the deal was terminated due to the Russian company breaching its contract, including by failing to invest a promised $500m in modernizing that port’s infrastructure.
The government, led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa, also said in a statement at the time that the previous deal was "unfair to Syrian sovereignty", with Syria receiving 35 percent of port revenues while Stroytransgaz got 65 percent.
Since the fall of the Assad dynasty’s decades-long rule in December, the new administration has been aiming to re-establish economic ties with western and regional powers.
Along with Tartus, a 30-year deal was also signed with French shipping company CMA CGM to operate Latakia port, the largest port city in the country.
In June, US President Donald Trump issued an executive order lifting sanctions on Syria, to support the country’s reconstruction following over a decade of war. The European Union and the UK also eased sanctions. Earlier this week, Sharaa became the first Syrian president to visit the White House since the country’s independence in 1946.
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