DATE=12/10/1999 TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT TITLE=SYRIA - ECONOMY, PART 3 OF 3 NUMBER=5-44953 BYLINE=DALE GAVLAK DATELINE=DAMASCUS CONTENT= VOICED AT: ///Eds: This is the final in a 3 part series on Syria/// INTRO: While Damascus may boast about being the world's oldest continuously inhabited city, it's just now reaching the technological age. While much of the rest of the world is actively engaged in e-commerce, Syria has only just authorized its first Internet and mobile phone services on a limited basis. Economists say Syria also has a long way to go with needed economic reforms as it enters the third millennium. Dale Gavlak reports from Damascus. TEXT: Samir Haddad owns a textile shop in the old marketplace of Damascus. In the past, he only could use his computer to keep track of stock inventory. Now, it's become a more powerful tool for creating new opportunities. He can access the Internet and e-mail to expand his commercial contacts and increase sales possibilities. Mr. Haddad says Syria's business community is welcoming this new addition to the country's economic landscape. It's a sign that Syria is breaking out of its isolation and further opening up to the outside world. //HADDAD ACT// Already people in business are trying to develop web pages for local businesses in Syria. Syrians are people who are traders by nature and they will take any opportunity to make business. //END HADDAD ACT// Internet access is still limited to companies, embassies and the Syrian government. But private individuals are expected to be allowed their own e- mail accounts by the end of next year. Syrians say they are open to technological changes that come with being in an information society. But they also say they want to preserve their traditions and uphold morality. As a result, the government says it will block access to sex material and some political sites on the Internet. The Internet has been slow to arrive in Syria. The government still acts as a guardian on information and financial matters affecting the country. It says it wants to lay down guidelines on how e-commerce is conducted. The ministries of finance and justice are currently reviewing legislation that will affect e- trade. Syrian Finance Minister Mohamed al-Emadi explains. //EMADI ACT// We want to put guarantees for the buyers and sellers because you hear what's going on with e-trade, if you don't hear about it, you are lucky. We want to find ways and means to make it really safe. //END EMADI ACT// As for cellular phones, it's unlikely that there will be huge numbers of mobile-toting Syrians any time soon. An initial, steep 12 hundred dollar subscription fee on top of a 40 dollar monthly service charge will make cellular phones affordable only for the few. The average Syrian government employee, for example, has a monthly salary of about one hundred dollars. Private entrepreneurs might earn up to five times that amount. So for many Syrians, mobile phones will remain virtually unaffordable luxuries. Even more basic economic reforms are needed in Syria to move the country forward into the competitive future. Economists, like Nabil Sukkar, note that Syria does not even have a stock exchange and it must create one to increase investment in the country. Banks need to be modernized to handle private and public sector transactions. Taxes on local goods, says Mr. Sukkar, should be reduced to turn around the stagnant economy and slow growth rate. //SUKKAR ACT// We need economic reform regardless of whether there are peace negotiations or not and whether the peace negotiations are resumed or not. We need economic reform because we need it for our own economy in order to revitalize the economy and accelerate economic growth. //END SUKKAR ACT// Mr. Sukkar says the lack of a peace process may have hindered an earlier push for financial reforms. Other economists say Syria's aging leadership and the succession issue may have delayed needed changes from happening sooner. The economists add that the lack of peace with Israel, the neighboring Middle East economic powerhouse, has siphoned funds into Syrian defense spending rather than into much needed economic development over the past 30 years. (Signed) NEB/DG/GE/PLM 10-Dec-1999 05:10 AM EDT (10-Dec-1999 1010 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .
