Syria’s next phase will not be measured only by the cranes above our cities or the agreements we sign. It will be measured by whether citizens experience the return of a government that serves them: through roads, schools, hospitals, secure work and homes in which families are able to plan their future. After years in which war damaged institutions as well as infrastructure, it is essential that reconstruction begins with a clear national purpose. We must preserve the country, strengthen its institutions and concentrate on the major priorities, rather than be diverted by secondary disputes that can consume a country in transition.
First, return must be at the centre of reconstruction. Ending displacement is not simply a humanitarian aim – it is essential to restoring Syria’s social fabric and citizens’ confidence in their country. Our priority is to make villages and towns liveable again by rehabilitating basic infrastructure and restoring daily services. The 2026 budget is estimated at $10.5bn, while our plan provides no less than $3bn for infrastructure in destroyed rural communities, financed through public expenditure rather than aid or loans. Additionally, we have approved a new minimum wage and a general 50% increase in public sector salaries and wages. These measures are a beginning, but they express the principle that recovery must be felt in citizens’ lives.
Government spending will be indispensable, but it cannot alone address cities in which whole districts have been lost. We are therefore considering a parallel investment-based model for areas where destruction has reached 90-100%. Homeowners would receive new apartments equivalent in size to the homes they lost, while investors would participate in contemporary urban development that provides roads, services and new construction. This is not a choice between public responsibility and private initiative – it combines them so that recovery is able to produce dignified housing within a functional urban environment.
The scale of the task makes this unavoidable. We must create a modern investment environment governed by law and institutions that is able to mobilise capital, technology and experience while serving the wider national interest. Recent reforms allow full foreign ownership of projects and remove the former requirement for a local partner. Openness must be governed by law and institutions, and it must create opportunities for Syrian workers, managers and skilled professionals. It is through this balance that reconstruction can serve national development as well as investment.
Reconstruction must be treated as a national system, not a series of isolated projects. Energy, water, transport, airports, roads, railways, housing, industry, digital infrastructure, education and health are interconnected. A power station has limited value if electricity cannot reach homes and factories; a road fails if it does not connect producers to markets. Our partnerships must contribute to institutional capacity and human resources as well as physical assets. We are building a country that can plan, regulate and sustain development, not just receive projects from others. It must link economic activity with social needs in every community.
Nor can development be concentrated in a small number of places. Every governorate must have a visible stake in recovery. In the east, plans include Deir ez Zor, Al Hasakah and Ar Raqqah. Deir ez Zor Airport should be a link between communities and a gateway to the world. A proposed industrial city combining food and petrochemical industries, and a cancer hospital estimated at around $21m illustrate the approach – infrastructure that improves daily life while creating productive capacity and jobs. Regional recovery must be rooted in local needs but also connected to a unified national economy.
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