Salaries would go up. Bread and gasoline would be cheaper. The electricity would arrive more than a few hours a day. The reconstruction of destroyed villages and towns would begin.
President Trump’s announcement in a speech in Saudi Aarabia on Tuesday that he would do that Lift the American sanctions against Syria Hope in the entire country unleashes that life would improve after more than a decade of war and hardship.
“It will put us at ease,” said Sami Al-Hajj, a pharmacist. “We used to be afraid of the future, for us and our children. But this offers opportunities.”
Analysts and many others in Syria see the lifting of American sanctions as crucial to enable the new government to rebuild an economy decimated by war. The sanctions have effectively removed Syria from the international banking system and isolated from the global economy, blocking money transfers, limiting imports and limiting activities by most international companies.
On Wednesday, Mr. Trump also met the president of Syria, Ahmed al-SharaA former rebel leader who led the campaign that The Strongman Bashar al-Assad fell over In December. It was the first time in 25 years that the leaders of the two countries had met. The conversation, which lasted about half an hour, still gave a stamp of recognition to Mr. Al-Shara, who is still designated by the US government as a terrorist for his affiliation in the past with Al Qaeda.
In social media after After the meeting, the press secretary of the White House, Karoline Leavitt, said that Mr Trump had encouraged Mr. Al-Sharar to reach a peace agreement with Israel, to expel foreign terrorists, to help combat the United States and to take over the Islamic State of the Islamic State of the Islamic State of the Islamic State. The State Secretary, Marco Rubio, was expected to meet the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mr. Al-Shara to discuss the details.
The Syrian government praised the meeting in a statement as ‘historical’ and said that ‘weighing for the Syrian-American partnership’ had tackled, also in the fight against terrorism.
The United States have been having been imposed sanctions on Syria for decades. But more were added during the war to punish Mr Al-Assad for his brutal efforts to suppress a popular uprising in 2011 and to destroy the rebels that eventually overthrow him.
By the time Mr Al-Sharara and alternated groups took over control, the seams of Syria had been destroyed and the economy had been eroded.
A United Nations report In February it discovered that nine out of 10 Syrians lived in poverty and that the economic output of the country was a quarter of what it had been before the war. With his current growth, according to the report, Syria would not return to his pre -war economic output before 2080.
If the United States the announcement of Mr. Trump follows, this can be a game change.
Rich Gulf states such as Qatar and Saudi Aarabia, which support the new government, could send financial assistance without fear of punishment. Private companies from Turkey and elsewhere can look for contracts in construction and other sectors. And Syrians in the Diaspora could send money home more easily, to rebuild destroyed property and start companies.
Mr. Trump said that lifting sanctions would give Syria a new start, but he did not go into when sanctions would be officially lifted and by which mechanism. He can suspend a few himself, but others were implemented by the congress, which should be involved in removing it.
However, it may take longer before individual Syrians feel the difference, said Karam Shaar, the director of a consultancy firm in the East.
“Economically, I think the impact will take much longer to flow in, because lifting sanctions is not as easy as just turning a switch,” he said. “You can’t just make a political announcement. It is much more complicated.”
Mr Trump’s announcement is also a victory for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman of Saudi Aarabia, both of whom lobby Mr. Trump to eliminate sanctions.
But above all it is a blessing for Mr. Al-Shara and his attempts to reunite the divided territory of Syria.
“Now the ball is at the court of the new government,” said Omar Abu Layla, a Syrian political analyst.
Despite enormous challenges, he said, Syrians were willing to give the new government a chance. But Mr. Al-Sharar had to concentrate on ‘improving the life of citizens’ by expanding basic services such as safety, water and electricity.
“I want to have a house, lead a car, a job and a normal life,” he said, describing a common feeling among Syrians. “We are tired and we want to lead stability and a worthy life.”
Syrians interviewed after Mr. Trump’s announcement said they were lame by poverty during the war, while the government services failed, the value of their currency fell, foreign products disappeared from markets and their ability to buy.
“The exchange rate was so high that we could not afford things,” said Rasha Al-Masri, 29. “We could not keep up with the prices and most people in Damascus wanted to leave the country.”
She had canceled her job as an accountant when her salary became worth less than $ 100 a month, she said.
Monthly wages for some soldiers and other government employees were less than $ 40 and facilities were bad.
“The internet was slow and we had to use a VPN to do everything,” she said, because sanctions blocked many technology companies to provide services. “Cars were expensive and we had the feeling that we could never afford anything.”
Mrs. Al-Masri is optimistic. The currency of Syria quickly got value against the dollar after the announcement of Mr Trump, and she hoped that the economy of the country would soon reopen the world.
Her boyfriend, Heba Mahmoud, who does not work outside the house, praised the leadership of Mr Al-Shara about Syria.
“President Ahmed Al-Sharara brought the Syrian people to a place that we had never thought we would reach,” she said.
Muhammad Haj Kadour contributed reporting.
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