LONDON: After more than a decade in crisis mode, Syria’s micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises are beginning to shift their gaze from survival to possibility, as the gradual lifting of sanctions following Bashar Assad’s removal in December 2024 sparks cautious economic optimism.

That shift is especially visible among parts of the private sector, which has endured years of shortages, isolation, and a lack of investment over the course of Syria’s grinding, 14-year civil war.

For Amira Saradar, a Damascus-based dentistry student who launched a home-based bakery called Maple in 2021, the change has meant easier access to basic supplies that were once difficult to source.

Before Assad was toppled, sourcing and paying for ingredients for her Western-style desserts — including creme brulee cream puffs, lemon swirl biscuits and tiramisu cookies — was a constant struggle.

“When Maple started, Assad was still president and sanctions hadn’t been lifted, so everything was harder to get,” Saradar told Arab News. “Prices were much higher than they should have been, and the profit margin was very low.” 

At times, she turned to suppliers in neighboring Lebanon — a costly workaround that ultimately proved unsustainable. “That was a big reason Maple had to close,” she said.

After shutting down for nearly two years, sanctions relief offered Saradar an opportunity to relaunch.

“I restarted in the summer of 2025, and (my business) truly thrived this time,” she said. She now hopes to expand the business beyond her kitchen and open a shop where she can display and sell her baked creations.

“Everything is easier to find now, and prices are much better,” she said. “Maple can finally be profitable and, hopefully, grow into a very successful online bakery.”

Similar improvements have been felt by microbusinesses in other sectors, though affordability remains a concern for many producers and their customers. 

Lynn Aboul Fadel, an architect who runs a small glass, wood, and fabrics painting business called Leeko Art, said her main challenge remains “the lack of raw materials at prices that match people’s purchasing power.”

Pricing is critical to sustaining demand and growth.

“The products I sell are considered non-essential goods,” Aboul Fadel told Arab News. “Prices need to be reasonable to convince more customers to buy each month, and that is often difficult.”

Those constraints reflect a broader economic reality. Nine out of 10 people in Syria live in poverty, three out of four depend on humanitarian aid, and one in four is jobless, according to a February report by the UN Development Programme.

The poverty rate has nearly tripled from 33 percent before the conflict to about 90 percent today, while extreme poverty has surged sixfold, from 11 percent to 66 percent. 

“Beyond immediate humanitarian aid, Syria’s recovery requires long-term investment in development to build economic and social stability for its people,” said UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner.

“Restoring productivity for jobs and poverty relief, revitalizing agriculture for food security, and rebuilding infrastructure for essential services such as healthcare, education and energy are key to a self-sustaining future, prosperity, and peace.”

Nevertheless, UNDP estimates Syria’s economy could return to its pre-war size within a decade if robust growth is maintained.

Aboul Fadel shares that guarded optimism. She hopes Leeko Art will benefit as the broader economic outlook improves.

“The lifting of sanctions has greatly raised hopes. It is the beginning of positive change for everyone,” she said. “Improved business conditions overall will certainly help me on an individual level.” 

One immediate benefit, she said, has been access to paid advertising on social media. “My ability to pay social media platforms for marketing is a major factor, and this has been excellent and immediately tangible,” she said.

Since Dec. 8, 2024, when a rebel coalition led by Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham seized control, Western governments have moved to ease or lift several layers of sanctions imposed on the Assad government.

The most significant step came on Dec. 17, 2025, when the US permanently suspended the Caesar Act — the strictest set of measures imposed on the regime in 2019. But the damage from more than 14 years of war and isolation cannot be undone at a stroke.

Syria’s economy has shrunk by roughly two-thirds since 2011, according to World Bank estimates, and rebuilding is projected to cost about $216 billion — nearly 10 times the country’s gross domestic product in 2024. 

Before the war, MSMEs accounted for about 95 percent of businesses and roughly 60 percent of GDP, according to UNDP. By 2023, their contribution had fallen to about 40 percent, though they still employed roughly 70 percent of the workforce.

One such enterprise is the Damascus-based Syrian International Academy, a vocational training institution specializing in diplomacy, public relations, and media.

It lost many international partners after the war began in 2011. But now, its founder and president, Dr. Nezar Mihoub, sees room for growth.

“As an educational institution focused on training national and Arab cadres, we are now able to restore and expand international cooperation,” Mihoub told Arab News.

He said reduced bureaucracy and renewed Arab engagement, particularly from Saudi Arabia, could play a meaningful role in economic recovery. 

That regional interest is already taking shape. A recent analysis by New Zealand-based Karam Shaar Advisory found that companies from the Gulf are leading the reshaping of Syria’s investment landscape.

Of 40 memorandums of understanding signed during the Syrian-Saudi Investment Forum in July, Saudi Arabia led in number and ranked second by value, with $6.4 billion in preliminary agreements. Additional energy deals followed in August.

But even before that, in May, Saudi Arabia and Qatar jointly paid off Syria’s $15.5 million debt to the World Bank.

“Attracting international financing and support could launch infrastructure reconstruction projects, creating job opportunities and revitalizing the construction and service sectors,” Mihoub said.

“A stable environment would also encourage the return of part of the expatriate Syrian talent and capital. Traditional sectors such as agriculture, industry, and oil could begin to recover as security conditions improve.” 

For freelancers and professionals who depend on international connectivity, sanctions relief has brought partial but uneven gains.

Alexandra Hammoud, an independent English-language teacher based in the coastal city of Tartous, said access to previously blocked online platforms has improved — a critical shift for her work.

“I have been able to enhance and develop my skills through enrolling in online courses on various platforms, such as FutureLearn and Coursera,” she told Arab News.

“I am also able to deliver courses in a virtual environment using Google Meet, manage resources on Google Drive and maintain communication with learners via social media platforms.”

Hammoud has also been able to publish educational content online. 

Yet obstacles persist.

“Internet connection is not always stable, which causes disruption while delivering courses and thus having to terminate or postpone (teaching) sessions,” Hammoud said. 

She also noted that some platforms, such as Coursera and Kahoot, still require the use of virtual private networks.

Online payment systems and some business email services remain difficult to access in Syria, especially for international use, she added.

Internet access in Syria remained unstable throughout 2025 due to a combination of infrastructure failures, power shortages and government-ordered shutdowns, including during exam periods and in localized provincial blackouts.

A Cloudflare report for the second quarter of 2025 said some outages stemmed from electricity and infrastructure issues, in addition to deliberate disruptions. 

Similar frustrations are shared by Damascus-based graphic designer Salma Saleh. “Undoubtedly, the lifting of the Caesar Act is a promising development,” she told Arab News. “However, we have yet to feel the impact.”

She said many services, including creative software and payment systems, remain inaccessible without workarounds, while electricity and internet outages continue to disrupt work. 

“To this day, I cannot use Gemini without a VPN, and the same applies to most online services,” she said. “Even Adobe, a company we pay subscription fees to, has not lifted the ban, and so we must use a VPN tool while using Adobe’s creative products.”

Although EU, UK and US sanctions were largely lifted in 2025, Saleh said the practical effects have lagged. 

“The lifting of restrictions remains partial and incomplete despite the removal of sanctions,” she said. “The question remains: What are global companies and banks waiting for?”

Power outages in Syria remain severe, with most areas, including the capital, receiving only a few hours of electricity a day, despite limited improvements and new imports.

Years of war have damaged power plants and transmission networks. Even after sanctions relief, financial constraints and underinvestment continue to slow repairs.

Nevertheless, new startups are emerging and global services like Samsung and GitHub are starting to return — even as major platforms and shipping companies, including Amazon and DHL, remain absent.