The UAE’s Ministry of Economy announces that it has agreed on future plans to strengthen economic cooperation with war-torn Syria.

The UAE’s Ministry of Economy said the Gulf state and Syria have agreed on future plans to strengthen economic cooperation and explore new sectors.

This decision underlines the evolution of regional dynamics after 10 years of war in Syria.

The United Arab Emirates supported the Syrian opposition during the early years of the conflict. But as the Syrian army recaptured most of the territory from the opposition, the United Arab Emirates and other Arab countries opened up to the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

The ministry wrote on Twitter that the value of non-oil trade between the two countries in the first half of 2021 was 1 billion dirhams ($ 272 million).

#UNITED ARAB EMIRATES and #Syria Agree on future plans to strengthen economic cooperation and explore new sectors in the next step.#MoE pic.twitter.com/t44yVAav9e

– Ministry of Economy – United Arab Emirates (@Economyae) 10 October 2021

In 2018, the United Arab Emirates reopened its embassy in Damascus for the first time since the start of an Arab diplomatic boycott organized in 2011 and with the aim of countering the influence of non-Arab actors such as Iran, which , with Russia, argues al-Assad. , and Turkey, which supports the opposition forces.

Last week, the UAE’s Minister of Economy met with his Syrian counterpart on the sidelines of the Dubai Expo 2020, where they discussed ways to expand their relationship, according to the official WAM news agency.

Earlier this year, the UAE said sweeping US sanctions on the war-torn country made it harder for Syria to return to the Arab League.

Under Washington’s Caesar law passed last year, the United States has attempted to block any reconstruction effort or trade deal without first passing human rights reforms.

The sanctions target the Syrian president, his close entourage, his family, senior security officials and troops, as well as the central bank and all institutions suspected of having played a role in the violence during the war.

While al-Assad may have won the military campaign against his opponents with the help of Russian and Iranian backers, he faces a greater challenge to rule when more than 80% of his people live in poverty. .

The war in Syria has left at least 350,000 dead, according to the UN. The conflict, which began as a mass uprising against the al-Assad regime in March 2011, quickly turned into a full-fledged war and sparked the world’s largest refugee crisis.