Syria signed more than $403 million in concessional Saudi development loans during Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s Nov. 4 visit to Riyadh, as Damascus also pursued separate European and Chinese discussions.
The six agreements with the Saudi Fund for Development cover infrastructure and public services, including power, water, emergency response, housing, health care and digital government services. The Saudi loan package was signed by Syria’s Finance Ministry, which announced the details on its Telegram channel.
The ministry listed $105 million for 25 Civil Defense centers, $100 million for hospitals and health centers, and $90 million to rehabilitate the Aleppo Thermal Power Plant. It said the centers are expected to benefit more than seven million people and the power project to serve about five million. Other allocations include $60 million to repair as many as 10,000 damaged homes, $30 million for 300,000 smart prepaid water meters and more than $18 million for digital government financial services. The ministry’s announcement gave no repayment maturities or disbursement schedule.
Al-Sharaa and Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman attended the signing ceremony at Al-Yamamah Palace. Saudi Arabia’s official press agency said the visit also produced a defense-ministry cooperation agreement, an industrial-cooperation memorandum and memorandums covering agriculture and environmental protection. The announcement did not detail the defense agreement’s terms.
In Brussels, Foreign Ministry official Qutaiba Kadish met a Belgian development official on Nov. 4 and a European Union External Action Service official on Nov. 5. Syria’s official announcements described discussions on development and humanitarian programs, barriers to banking ties, private-sector support and investment.
In Damascus, al-Sharaa met Chinese business representatives on Nov. 3 as a two-day economic forum opened with representatives of 16 Chinese companies. The forum addressed investment opportunities and possible partnerships in industry, construction and reconstruction; the announcements identified no signed Chinese investment deal or committed amount.
At a separate investment forum in July 2025, the Saudi Press Agency reported 47 agreements valued at nearly 24 billion Saudi riyals.
