- Title: Some Syrians return home to launch businesses despite challenges
- Date: 31st March 2026
- Summary: DAMASCUS, SYRIA (FILE - FEBRUARY 28, 2026) (REUTERS) SYRIAN RESTAURANT OWNER, MALAKEH JAZMATI, WALKING INTO HER RESTAURANT, SAYING (Arabic): 'WELCOME TO BROCAR' JAZMATI'S RESTAURANT VARIOUS OF JAZMATI INSIDE THE KITCHEN COOKING UTENSILS VARIOUS OF JAZMATI INSIDE THE KITCHEN DISHES (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SYRIAN RESTAURANT OWNER, MALAKEH JAZMATI, SAYING: "To return and s
- Embargoed:
- Keywords: Syria businesses economy projects war
- Location: DAMASCUS AND ALEPPO, SYRIA
- City: DAMASCUS AND ALEPPO, SYRIA
- Country: Syria
- Topics: Economic Events,Middle East
- Reuters ID: LVA001836529032026RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:After years of war and displacement, some Syrians are returning home and investing in new businesses, betting that the country's economy and social life can slowly revive despite challenges.
For years, the idea of returning to Syria seemed almost impossible for many who had left. In Damascus, owner of the ‘Brocar’ restaurant, Malakeh Jazmati was among those who made their way back.
Jazmati left Syria in 2011 as protests against Bashar al-Assad’s regime began. She moved to Germany, where she opened a restaurant, and has now launched a second one in Damascus, a city she said she feels deeply rooted in.
"To return and start my business in Damascus was a dream for me, because these are our roots, which is our country,” said Jazmati.
“In the last few years of the revolution, we started to think that returning to Damascus was a fantasy,” she added.
While some remain cautious about investing in a country still recovering from war, Jazmati said she sees a revival in tourism as a positive sign.
In the northern city of Aleppo is Aisha Zain Jbaily who recently returned to Syria after living in Turkey. She opened a traditional laurel soap factory.
"A big part of my return was not for financial gain. I see it as my duty, our duty, all of us ,” said Jbaily.
Back in Damascus, Zahira Tasabehji, who migrated to Canada in 2008, opened a climbing club, offering residents a recreational space where customers now gather to scale indoor walls and socialise.
"I feel that the more stability there is in the country through these projects, the better the country will become, and the more people will be able to return," said Tasabehji.
Syria's economy is growing much faster than the World Bank's 1% estimate for 2025 as refugees flow back after the end of a 14-year civil war, fuelling plans for the relaunch of the country's currency and efforts to build a new Middle East financial hub, the country's central bank Governor AbdulKader Husrieh said in December of last year.
Syrian economist, Ali Ahmed told Reuters that currency instability and weak purchasing power are major hurdles for investors but added that easing sanctions and renewed production and reconstruction efforts should strengthen Syria’s investment outlook.
Syria was reclassified as a low-income country in 2018, with more than 90% of its near 25 million population living below the poverty line, according to U.N. agencies.
Despite the lifting of U.S. sanctions on Syria at the end of last year and the emergence of foreign investment from some Gulf countries, millions of Syrians still live below the poverty line, with purchasing power remaining weak even as a wider variety of local and foreign goods becomes available in markets.
(Production: Khalil Ashawi, Mahmoud Hassano, Yamam al-Shaar, Firas Makdesi, Kinda Makieh) - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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