Elaf fund will finance initiatives with buy-in from Saudi buyers committing $2bn for 2 airports in Aleppo metropolis.
Printed On 7 Feb 2026
Syria and Saudi Arabia have signed a significant funding package deal spanning aviation, power, actual property and telecommunications as Damascus’s new management seeks to rebuild after a devastating 14-year civil struggle.
Syrian Funding Authority chief Talal al-Hilali introduced a swath of offers on Saturday, together with the event of a brand new worldwide airport in Aleppo, the launch of a low-cost Syrian-Saudi airline, and a telecommunications venture known as SilkLink geared toward turning the nation right into a regional hub.
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Saudi Arabia has been a significant backer of Syria’s new leaders, who took energy after toppling longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, with this newest deal marking the most important funding since america lifted sanctions on the nation in December.
Saudi Funding Minister Khalid al-Falih stated the newly launched Elaf fund, which goals to finance large-scale initiatives with participation from Saudi private-sector buyers, would commit $2bn (7.5 billion Saudi riyals) to develop two airports within the Syrian metropolis of Aleppo.
Rebuilding Syria’s economic system
Abdulsalam Haykal, Syria’s minister of communications and data expertise, stated his nation will see practically $1bn in funding within the telecommunications sector, with plans to put hundreds of kilometres of cable to spice up connectivity between Asia and Europe.
Saudi funds service Flynas and the Syrian Civil Aviation Authority introduced they signed an settlement to ascertain a brand new airline known as “Flynas Syria”, which might be 51 p.c owned by the Syrian facet and is slated to start out operations within the fourth quarter of 2026.
Syria’s Ministry of Vitality additionally signed a water settlement with Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Energy, which is thought for operating initiatives in energy era and desalinated water manufacturing vegetation within the Center East and past.
Al-Hilali stated the agreements focused “important sectors that impression individuals’s lives and kind important pillars for rebuilding the Syrian economic system”.
Tom Barrack, the US envoy to Syria, counseled the Saudi-Syrian deal on X. “Strategic partnerships in aviation, infrastructure, and telecommunications will contribute meaningfully to Syria’s reconstruction efforts,” he stated.
However Benjamin Feve, senior analysis analyst at Karam Shaar advisory, sounded a extra cautious notice, saying the offers mattered “way more as a political sign than as an financial recreation changer” within the brief time period.
The federal government has confronted criticism over the previous yr for making broad improvement guarantees based mostly on written pledges with international buyers, lots of which have but to be transformed into binding contracts.
