LONDON: Marking the latest step in Washington’s policy adjustments toward Damascus, the US Treasury Department said on Aug. 25 it will remove Syria from its sanctions list, allowing American firms to conduct business there.
The change, issued by the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, took effect on Aug. 26, ending restrictions first imposed in 2004 and later broadened during Syria’s civil war, rolling back years of measures that had cut the nation off from international markets.
“The decision to update OFAC’s regulations to remove the Syria sanctions program officially formalizes the June 30 executive order and will trigger companies to adjust their compliance programs,” Sameer Saboungi, policy officer and director of legal affairs at the Syrian American Council, told Arab News.
Saboungi said the move should encourage firms to revisit their policies on Syria, calling it “yet another step towards the reintegration of Syria into the global markets.”
However, while the US government “has done a lot in a remarkably short span of time,” much now “depends on private companies and how they decide to capitalize on the economic opportunities in Syria, as well as on the Syrian government and how they choose to use these opportunities.”
