Syria’s Ministry of Economy and Industry has decided to establish a Syrian-Ukrainian Business Council, which will be the sole accredited body representing Syrian business in relations with Ukraine. The decision was taken on 7 September, the state news agency SANA reported.
The council is chaired by Mohammad Naeem Zeidiya, with Mahmoud Halifi Sheikh Mohammad and Amjad Abdul-Rahim Fakhoury as vice-chairmen, Samir Khaled Sharkas as secretary-general and Ahmad Ghassan al-Hajji as executive director. It operates under the rules governing all of Syria’s joint business councils and is overseen by the Syrian Council for Coordinating Joint Business Councils, which is also tasked with keeping its work in line with national economic priorities.
Part of a wider network
The Ukrainian council is one of dozens of similar bodies Damascus has been setting up since the change of government. By late August, according to the ministry, Syria had 20 joint business councils, including with Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, China, Canada, Germany, France, Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon, MENA Startup Digest reported. Seven more were being formed, and the ministry aims to reach at least 62. The councils are expected to deliver concrete deals, investment projects and new markets for Syrian companies rather than meetings for their own sake. A Syrian-Cypriot council was formed a week before the Ukrainian one.
No Ukrainian counterpart council has yet been publicly announced.
Background
Ukraine restored diplomatic relations with Syria in August 2025. President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Syria on 5 April 2026, and Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on X that the two sides had agreed to reopen embassies in Kyiv and Damascus soon. Bilateral trade had grown ninefold since relations were restored, he said.
During the negotiations with Syria’s Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani, we discussed a range of important areas and initiatives, first and foremost — related to security.
Bilateral trade has already increased ninefold since the signing of the Joint communiqué on restoring diplomatic relations, and we see clear opportunities to expand this further.
Finally, we agreed to reopen embassies in Kyiv and Damascus in the near future — an important step in strengthening our partnership.
— Andrii Sybiha 🇺🇦 (@andrii_sybiha) April 5, 2026
Qahwa.Media reported earlier on a Ukrainian delegation’s visit to Syria in December 2025.
