Ports Partnership Signed
Syria's General Authority for Ports and Customs signed a strategic partnership agreement on 7 July 2026 with the shipping and logistics group CMA CGM to develop the country's transport and logistics sector and support reconstruction. The signing took place at the People's Palace in Damascus in the presence of President Ahmad al-Sharaa and French President Emmanuel Macron.
The agreement was signed for the Syrian side by the authority's chairman, Qutaibah Badawi, and for the company by its chairman and chief executive, Rodolphe Saade. Officials described it as an umbrella framework bringing current and future projects between the two sides under a single vision.
Latakia and the Dry Ports
The deal sets out several projects. Chief among them is developing and operating the container terminal at the port of Latakia, alongside completing dry-port projects in Damascus and Aleppo and building an integrated logistics zone at the Naseeb crossing.
It also covers developing air-cargo facilities at Damascus International Airport, giving the plan a reach across sea, land and air freight and tying the main gateways into a single logistics chain.
Rail and Skills
The two sides agreed to prepare a plan to rehabilitate the railway network linking the ports to the main logistics centers, so that goods can move inland once they are unloaded. The agreement also provides for cooperation on vocational training, workforce development and initiatives with a social impact.
A Bid to Become a Trade Hub
Officials described the agreement as a long-term strategic framework meant to build a modern, integrated transport and logistics system, strengthen Syria's position as a regional hub for trade and transit, raise the competitiveness of the national economy, lift exports and attract quality investment. They cast it as part of an effort to reintegrate the country into regional and international trade chains.
The partner is one of the world's largest shipping and logistics groups, active in more than 160 countries and present in Syria for more than three decades. The agreement was one of a package of accords and memoranda that Syria and France signed the same day in Damascus.