DAMASCUS, (Reuters) – President Bashar al-Assad will make a rare visit to Latin America aimed at extending Syria’s diplomatic reach after emerging from Western isolation, and attracting investment for his country’s ageing infrastructure.
Assad, who faces a decline in domestic oil production and droughts that have hit agriculture, will be looking to reinforce links with a rich Syrian expatriate community in the region and with economic power Brazil.
Official Syrian media said Assad will travel to Brazil, Cuba, Argentina and Venezuela, without giving a timetable. He was expected to arrive in Venezuela later yesterday.
“Brazil is a rising power and Syria is aware of this. The president’s visit will help convince the Syrian expatriate community to begin investing in Syria,” said Thabet Salem, a Syrian journalist and commentator.
Brazil, together with Turkey, brokered a deal with Syria’s ally Iran for Tehran to send abroad low-enriched uranium in return for reactor fuel. The deal did not stop the United Nations Security Council from imposing a fourth round of sanctions against Tehran this month, which Brazil opposed.
Diplomats in Damascus said while Syria agrees with Brazil’s efforts to solve the impasse between Iran and the West, Assad’s visit will be more focused on bilateral issues and Syria’s hopes to attract $44 billion in private investment over the next five years to repair its infrastructure. That figure represents 80 percent of Syria’s gross domestic product, which is a fraction of Brazilian output.
Brazilian parliament speaker Michel Tamer said the two sides will sign trade and technology cooperation protocols. Brazil already supplies Syria with most of its sugar.
“The Arab expatriate community has an economic and cultural weight that will help expand cooperation with Syria on the government level,” Tamer told the official Syrian news agency.
Jihad Yazigi, publisher of the Syria Report economic newsletter said while Syrian expatriate investment is minimal, Syria stands to gain from shifting global economic trends in favour of Latin America.
“The south-south cooperation is interesting in the context of the relative decline of the West,” Yazigi said.
