ISTANBUL 

Syria’s Finance Minister Yisr Barnieh said late Wednesday that the country’s reform agenda focuses on creating an ecosystem to support the private sector and attract foreign investment.

"I'm sure one day, everybody will realize that Syria is a good place to invest," Barnieh said on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank annual meetings in Washington DC.

Reforms are progressing regardless of sanctions, he added.

Barnieh said that seeing 1 million Syrians return to their country since the beginning of the year gives him hope.

“You can see the optimism in the eyes of every Syrian,’ he added.

He said his top priorities are to restore confidence and trust in both the public and private sectors.

Regaining Syria’s fiscal credibility, streamlining its complex tax structure and addressing its heavy debt burden are key, he noted.

Other challenges include transitioning to targeted subsidies, ensuring fiscal discipline while meeting Syrians’ basic needs, combating corruption, ensuring transparency, building capacity and acquiring the skills needed for reform, he said.

- Syrian wealth fund

Syria will need tens of billions of dollars for reconstruction, Barnieh said, explaining that the government is working to establish the Syrian Development Fund, whose primary goal will be to finance infrastructure projects and reconstruction.

The administration is also working with the World Bank to create a trust fund through which Syria can receive support from donor countries and institutions.

Barnieh said Syria aims to play a significant role in the wider region’s prosperity through trade and stability.

- Sanctions 'are behind us'

Barnieh also addressed the process of lifting sanctions imposed on Syria, saying that the country is not using sanctions as an excuse to avoid reforms.

He noted that some measures remain in effect but expressed hope that US sanctions imposed under the Caesar Act – which targeted the Bashar al-Assad government for war crimes during the 13-year civil war – will be permanently lifted by the end of the year.

US President Donald Trump lifted broad sanctions on Syria in July following his May meeting with Farouk al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia. The Treasury Department announced in August that American companies could resume business with Damascus.

"Sanctions are behind us, and our reforms are progressing regardless of sanctions," he explained.

When asked about Syria’s dialogue with US and global regulators on combating money laundering and terrorist financing, Barnieh said they have a good relationship with US regulators.

He said Syria has developed a national strategy in consultation with the US Treasury Department and the IMF, aimed at ensuring the highest level of integrity in the financial sector.

Barnieh also expressed confidence that Syria would soon be removed from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Grey List, which identifies countries with deficiencies in their anti-money laundering and counterterrorist financing measures but that are working to resolve them.

Since the formation of a new government in January, after the Baath Party regime was toppled following 25 years in power, Syria has been implementing fiscal and economic reforms to attract foreign investment.