SYRIA: First Syrian car factory opens in Damascus

Record ID: 276223

  • Title: SYRIA: First Syrian car factory opens in Damascus
  • Date: 9th March 2007
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF THE CARS IN THE FACTORY.
  • Embargoed: 24th March 2007 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Industry
  • Reuters ID: LVACMOI2FFN1P0DX5798IA26RSVH
  • Story Text: Syria's first car factory was opened in Damascus despite delays and difficulties. Syria hopes that the factory, which is 40 per cent owned by Iran, will offer a boost to Syria's industrial sector.

    Syria's first car manufacturing company was inaugurated on Thursday (8/3). The plant is a joint venture between Iran and Syria, and it was opened by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Iranian Vice-President Berwiz Daoudi.
    The opening came after several delays as the company experienced problems in shipping over components of the car and delays in the arrival of some designs, Ziad Qutaini, General Manager of the Engineering Industries told Reuters.
    The joint venture is 35 per cent Syrian state-owned, 25 per cent owned by a private Syrian investor and 40 per cent owned by Iran's Khodro car company. Qutaini said Syria had chosen the Iranian company as its joint venture partner because other foreign companies it had negotiated with had put forth many conditions that Syria found difficult to meet.
    "The Japanese and European companies made impossible conditions so we couldn't have deals with them, even the South-Korean companies' conditions were impossible, in addition to royalty and transfer of technology problems. But Iran Khodro Company helped us with the transfer of technology free of charge and made it very easy, and it contributed 40 per cent of the capital invested," he said.
    The joint venture has been given the name "Siamco", and the cars it will produce will be marketed in Syria under the name "Sham", which is the Arabic name for Damascus.
    Khodro, the biggest car-maker in the Middle East, also produces Peugeot models including the 206, and Renault Logan cars in Iran.
    The Syrian-Iranian factory was built at a cost of 200 million U.S. dollars, and will have an annual capacity 10,000 cars.
    About 70 cars were ready on the day of the launch, but their prices were still not announced, although company officials said they would be competitive.
    Abdullah al-Dardari, Syrian Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, said the opening of the factory marks the introduction of a new type of industry to Syria that will add value to the Syrian industrial sector. The government will encourage more such investments, he said.
    Iran more than 100 economic projects in Syria, which embody the special relations between Syria and Iran, according the Charge d'Affairs of the Iranian Embassy in Damascus.
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