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Explained: Two Sets of Executive Instructions for the New Investment Law

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In a legal precedent, the Council of Ministers issued two sets of executive instructions on October 15 for a single law, Investment Law No. 2 of 2023. These regulations were issued through two separate decisions bearing the numbers 1575 and 1576.

While no Syrian official has explained why two sets of executive instructions were issued, it appears that the reason is that the new Investment Law No. 2 of 2023 effectively replaced two previous laws; it amended the old Investment Law No. 18 of 2021 and repealed the Real Estate Development and Investment Law No. 15 of 2008. Theoretically, the new executive instructions broadened the scope of investment to include real estate development and investment. However, in practice, Decisions No. 1575 and 1576 sometimes repeat the same ideas differently, which may lead to conflicting interpretations during implementation. It would have been sufficient to simply issue one of the decisions, adding the different articles from the second decision.

As an example of potential conflicts between the two sets of executive regulations: Decision No. 1575 applies to the following projects: those established by a private sector investor alone or with public sector entities; those established based on public entities offering their properties for investment by the private sector or by joint public-private sector entities outside the scope of the public-private partnership law; and real estate development and investment projects. Meanwhile, Decision No. 1576 applies to real estate development and investment projects carried out on state-owned properties and those executed on a property developer’s real estate. This means that Decision No. 1575 is more comprehensive than Decision No. 1576. However, the latter does not add any significant legal or practical value.

Another example illustrates the overlap and conflict between the two sets of regulations: Decision No. 1575 allows public entities to implement real estate development and investment zones either by themselves or in joint ventures with real estate developers. Decision No. 1576 specified two methods for implementing real estate development and investment projects: by contract between the public entity and the real estate developer either amicably or through a tender.

Furthermore, Decision No. 1575 distinguished between the responsibilities of the public entity and the real estate developer during the implementation of infrastructure and public utilities, while Decision No. 1576 placed the responsibility of implementing infrastructure and public utilities in the project area solely on the real estate developer.

The duties and obligations of the real estate developer and investor also intersect and branch out between the two sets of instructions, whether before the implementation of the real estate development and investment project or during its various stages until its completion. These differences are presented without apparent justification. Decision No. 1575 outlines some duties and rights of the developer, while Decision No. 1576 repeats some of these duties and rights and adds more.

Issuing two separate decisions with executive instructions for a single law may just be administrative chaos and bureaucracy. However, it could also be intentional to leave room for contradictory legal interpretations and applications in different cases. 

This could open the door to administrative and judicial disputes. For example, Article No. 17 of Decision No. 1575 gives the Higher Investment Council the authority to issue special regulations to define the legal relationship between the real estate developer and the administrative entity responsible for the real estate development and investment area. It includes the powers, duties, and rights of both parties. Decision No. 1575 does not specify a deadline for issuing these regulations. This means that the matter is left to the council’s discretion, which may not issue these regulations and leave the matter pending, or it might issue and later amend them, as the text of the article does not restrict the council. Meanwhile, Decision No. 1576 includes the rules governing the relationship between the real estate developer, the administrative entity, and others.

Explained: Executive Instructions for the New Investment Law

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The Council of Ministers has issued executive instructions for Law No. 2 of 2023, which amends Investment Law No. 18 of 2021. The executive instructions were issued by two resolutions of the Council of Ministers on October 15, bearing the numbers 1575 and 1576. It is not clear why two separate resolutions for the executive instructions were issued, as there is no legal justification for having more than one set of executive instructions for a single law. This could lead to further complications in their implementation, especially since Resolution No. 1576 repeats some of the provisions of Resolution No. 1575.

Law No. 2 of 2023 expanded the scope of application of Investment Law No. 18 of 2021 to include real estate development and investment projects, which were previously regulated by the now-repealed Real Estate Development and Investment Law No. 15 of 2008.

Official and semi-official media outlets have described the executive instructions as contributing to the revitalization of the real estate development sector and addressing certain shortcomings in the old laws regulating real estate development.

Resolution No. 1575

Resolution No. 1575 provides executive instructions regarding the conditions for creating real estate development and investment zones, their objectives, surface area and the mechanism for preparing their general and detailed zoning plans. It also outlines how to secure the necessary land for these plans, the mechanisms for implementing real estate development and investment projects, how to deal with the resulting plots from the implementation of the projects, and permits.

Resolution No. 1575 modified some definitions and terms found in the Investment Law and its amendments, as well as introducing some new modifications. For example, Resolution No. 1575 provides a definition for a developer and real estate investor as a person licensed to engage in real estate development and investment activities, and to whom the same regulations that apply to investors are applicable.

It states that the specialised zone, which is a geographically defined investment area where specific economic, production, service, or investment activities are conducted, now includes what it calls special service areas for the purpose of development and real estate investment. These are defined as zones that comprise the establishment of advanced special service projects (medical, educational, commercial, sports, technological, industrial, craft and others).

It also stipulates that its scope includes investment projects undertaken by investors and investment companies, the public sector, the cooperative sector and projects for development and real estate investment, as well as areas for real estate development and investment within the forms of special economic zones.

However, the connection between advanced special service projects and real estate development is not clarified.

Furthermore, Resolution No. 1575 clarifies that areas of real estate development and investment can be created both outside and inside urban zoning plans or within their protected zones. It should be ensured that these areas are selected outside of restricted and prohibited areas such as military zones, airports, and ports, and that they do not conflict with the directives and data of regional planning, and do not include an area created according to the provisions of the urban planning regulation of Law No. 23 of 2015.

Such areas are created either to provide and prepare the necessary lands for establishing protected urban areas, or for the demolition and reconstruction, or rehabilitation and renewal of existing areas, or for the establishment of advanced special service zones. These projects are considered to have social dimensions if they aim to house specific segments of society under facilitated conditions.

The measure also defines the minimum size of the real estate development and investment area as no less than 15 hectares in Damascus, Aleppo and Rural Damascus, and 10 hectares in other governorates, if they are outside the urban zoning plans. If the area is within the urban zoning plans, it can be established regardless of its size, whether its plans are executed or not, including in informal settlements.

Resolution No. 1575 introduced a new clause not found in previous laws, stating that the rights of violators occupying public or private state lands before the enactment of the law are limited to taking only the rubble of their buildings. At the same time, the authority responsible for the real estate development and investment zone is obliged to allocate alternative housing for these individuals from what is available to them, inside or outside the area, even if the violators who built in informal housing areas did so on state property.

Despite the fact that the investment law and its amendments repealed the provisions of Law No. 15 of 2008, which addressed informal housing areas by creating them as real estate development zones, Resolution No. 1575 gave administrative bodies the freedom to apply other urban planning laws or the new investment law, and to cancel the guarantees that had been granted to owners of unlicensed homes when applying the Law No. 15 of 2008.

Resolution No. 1576

In turn, Resolution No. 1576 laid down executive instructions for the obligations of the developer and real estate investor, the contractual relationship between them and the authority responsible for the real estate development and investment area, the timeframes for project execution and their implementation and handover programs, and the mechanisms for executing infrastructure projects in the covered area, as well as the processes of property subdivision, registration, and deregistration in the Land Registry.

It repeated some of the definitions contained in Resolution No. 1575, but added one new definition: the basic finishes related to the building facade and the sections, parts, and common facilities, both inside and outside the building and in its surroundings.

The scope of application of Resolution No. 1576 is limited to real estate development and investment projects planned to be implemented through a profit-sharing approach on state property lands, public entity properties, or properties owned by the administrative unit, as well as properties owned by the real estate developer or their delegate.

Explained: Real Estate Development in Aleppo’s Al-Haydariyeh Informal Settlement

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Al-Haydariyeh is among the largest informal settlements in Aleppo and was declared a real estate development zone in 2011. The area saw widespread devastation during the war, forcing its residents into displacement. And though the Aleppo City Council hoped Al-Haydariyeh real estate development project could serve as a model for reconstruction in other east Aleppo neighbourhoods, the project still needs to be completed. 

The Al-Haydariyeh settlement began to develop in the early 1970s to the northeast of Aleppo, outside its official zoning plan. Initially, the land at Al-Haydariyeh was private, undivided and collectively owned; it was used for pastures and agriculture, while construction was prohibited. Some landowners have ownership documents in the form of a “green agricultural tabu” (a record dating back to the Ottoman era). Others have court judgments confirming the legitimacy of their purchases of undivided shares.

Some people built unlicensed homes on these lands, and some sold their land shares to contractors who built unlicensed houses that they sold to migrants from northern and eastern Syria. Over time, various informal neighbourhoods emerged in Al-Haydariyeh, often named after the resident ethnic communities, including Kurds, Turkmen, Assyrians and Arabs.

In the late 1970s, the state appropriated a large area of Al-Haydariyeh to construct social housing projects, a park, and a school. It issued its final expropriation order, No. 2280, in December 1982. However, some building contractors and members of the security forces seized parts of the confiscated land. They divided the land into smaller plots and sold them as sites prepared for unlicensed construction. As a result, some neighbourhoods emerged, named after the entities that took over the land, such as the “Intelligence Neighbourhood” and the “Theft Neighbourhood.”

The Aleppo municipality later expropriated the remaining land in Al-Haydariyeh. It allocated it for social housing programmes, which are implemented by public institutions affiliated with the Ministry of Public Works and Housing. The city council zoned this area via Decision No. 2426 in 1990. It is divided into 325 plots prepared for construction, each measuring 120 square metres. These plots were set aside for residents who had been given notices to demolish their unlicensed homes in the neighbouring Al-Masharqeh neighbourhood. Residents who were allocated these plots paid for them in instalments over 15 years. This section of land became known as the “40 Notices” district, named for the demolition notices. Most buildings here were licensed and consisted of two storeys, while a minority, which violated regulations, consisted of three. The district was provided with a water and sanitation network funded by its residents. Still, implementation was very ineffecient and poor, leaving some residents reliant on purchasing water tanks. All houses were connected to the electricity network and had usage meters, although unauthorized electricity tapping was common.

Since 2002, the Aleppo municipality began issuing eviction warnings to the “Theft Neighbourhood” residents. It promised to provide them with alternative housing (which they would be expected to pay for) as part of youth housing projects, a segment of Syria’s social housing programmes. Announcements were also made about launching these programmes in other parts of Aleppo.

In 2004, the Aleppo City Council annexed Al-Haydariyeh into the zoning plan issued that same year. The following year, the council commissioned the Faculty of Architectural Engineering engineering unit at the University of Aleppo to prepare a detailed zoning plan for the district, which, at that time, was estimated by the council to have around 32,000 inhabitants. The engineering unit completed the plan in 2006, amending the zoning plan for the “40 Notices” district and removing the park and small squares within it. However, this second plan was not ratified and remained unimplemented.

In 2010, the Aleppo Governorate Council subjected Al-Haydariyeh district to Real Estate Development and Investment Law No. 15 of 2008, marking it as the first district in Aleppo to which this law was applied. The Council of Ministers approved the decision a year later, establishing two real estate development zones in Aleppo. These zones aimed to redevelop areas containing mass unlicensed construction located in Al-Haydariyeh and nearby Tal al-Zarazir.

According to Law No. 15 of 2008 (which was later repealed by Law No. 2 of 2023, also amending Investment Law No. 18 of 2021), a real estate development zone can include properties within or outside a given zoning plan. These properties could be secured either from state assets, from assets of the administrative unit, from assets owned by development companies, or from private properties. The executive instructions for Law No. 15, issued by the Prime Minister under Decision No. 5410 in 2009, said that informal settlements could be treated as real estate development zones, regardless of their size, based on a justification memo and with approval from the Presidency of the Council of Ministers.

Announcing Al-Haydariyeh as a real estate development zone allowed the city council to seize properties and assets in the district. This gave the implementing authorities all the necessary powers and rights to take over and demolish those properties. A real estate development programme was then approved for Al-Haydariyeh, covering an area of 118 hectares. Of this, 42.12 percent was allocated for residential plots, green spaces and public areas, while 12.27 percent was allocated for public services.

This development aimed to construct 10,000 housing units through a partnership between the Aleppo City Council and real estate developers. The council divided the real estate development project in Al-Haydariyeh into three zones or phases, A, B and C, to facilitate the work for real estate development companies. The first phase spanned an area of 28.8 hectares, encompassing 2,700 residential apartments. The General Company for Engineering Studies (GCES) completed the studies and plans for the project’s general infrastructure. Meanwhile, the Military Housing Establishment (MHE) implemented significant portions of the infrastructure for the first and second phases of the project, such as the road network and the sanitation system.

Like other parts of east Aleppo, Al-Haydariyeh was under rebel control in 2012-2016. During this period, it suffered heavy bombardment and a suffocating siege by regime forces. With the Russian military intervention in 2015, the area endured aerial and artillery assaults, causing extensive damage. This pushed the opposition to surrender and accept forced displacement from the site in 2016. Since then, only a limited number of residents have returned to Al-Haydariyeh.

The Aleppo municipality started a demolition campaign in Al-Haydariyeh in 2018 in collaboration with the Ministry of Defense, citing the presence of mines in some buildings. In 2019, the city council started applying Urban Planning and Construction Law No. 23 of 2015 to Al-Haydariyeh, designating it as an area containing mass unlicensed construction. The site was then expropriated under the Expropriation Law No. 20 of 1983. Law No. 23 allows for the issuance of regulatory plans for a specific area, irrespective of the existence of public or private implementing agencies, without a specific timeframe for completion, no minimum ownership by administrative entities, and no specified minimum area requirement.

In 2020, the Aleppo City Council demolished and cleared homes within the executive plan for the Al-Haydariyeh development project. With that, the area was ready to be presented for investment in partnership with the General Authority for Real Estate Development and Investment. For projects within informal settlements like Al-Haydariyeh, the real estate developer is assumed responsible for providing alternative, paid housing for the area’s occupants or compensating them financially. In turn, the administrative entity must evacuate the occupants after handing them alternative housing and deliver the project site free of encroachments to the real estate developer.

One of the main concerns surrounding the land and property rights of former Al-Haydariyeh residents is that the real estate development project includes a social survey of the area’s inhabitants. However, given that all residents were displaced, it remains unclear how this survey will be conducted. A social survey typically solidifies compensation rights for residents present during the survey. Some local sources have suggested that people close to the authorities recently returned and resettled in the district based on security clearances. The Aleppo City Council has not listed any names of rights holders in the neighbourhood. 

Explained: Aleppo City Zoning Plans

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The earliest known landmarks in Aleppo date back to the Greek era, when the city was called Beroea. At the time, the city had a grid-like structure built around a citadel, the remains of which are today’s Jalloum neighbourhood and a network of commercial markets within the ancient citadel walls. During the Byzantine era, the city expanded, and districts like Bousita and Farafra arose. In the mid-13th century, suburbs such as the Misabbin and Dubbagha districts appeared outside the castle walls. In the early 16th century, new areas such as Mashariqa, Kallasa, Bab Al-Maqam, Bab Al-Nairab, Banqusa, and the Maraashi district began to appear as gathering spots for Turks coming from Maraash, with Christian suburbs arising in Salib Al-Kubra, Salib Al-Sughra and Al-Jdeida. During this period, new neighbourhoods appeared named after the major industries established there, such as the Al-Najarin (carpenters), Al-Bayada (copper or brass work polishers) and Al-Qazazin (glassworkers).

The first attempt to formally zone Aleppo dates back to the late Ottoman period. In 1867, the first municipality in the city was established and had an area of about 550 hectares. In 1882, the Ottoman authorities commissioned a German engineer named Jung to draw up the city’s first zoning plan. Jung adopted the principle of wide streets and a grid plan for the city, completing it in 1899. The Department of Technical Affairs in Aleppo adopted the project in 1915.

However, the zoning plans for present-day Aleppo date back to 1954, by the French architect André Gutton. He oversaw a new zoning plan with a Western urban character, with wide streets and multi-storey buildings, linking the city centre with its urban expansion zones. Under this plan, roads were paved, including the one that connected the Umayyad Mosque and the citadel, causing partial or complete demolition of some archaeological buildings, including Hammam Al-Wasani, Khan Al-Wazir, Khan Al-Saboun, Al-Matbakh Al-Ajami, and the Sharfia School.

In 1974, Japanese expert Banshuya made a new zoning plan for Aleppo, raising many objections. Based on this plan, the Aleppo municipality began to establish a new centre for the city on the part of the historic city centre. The municipality commissioned the engineering unit from the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Aleppo, with support from the Military Housing Establishment, to develop a study for the Bab Al-Faraj project, which included the construction of high-rise buildings and wide streets. The municipality expropriated more than half of the area allocated for the new city centre. It began implementing these city blocks on AbdulMunim Riyad Street. During the preparation stage, work crews found parts of the ancient wall of Bab Al-Faraj, which extends from Bab Al-Faraj Square to Bab Al-Nasr.

The Old City was subsequently added to the UNESCO World Heritage List, and the Ministry of Culture registered the neighbourhoods within the citadel walls as archaeological areas where demolition and construction are prohibited. Only restoration would be allowed in those areas under Decision No. 47 of 1979, coinciding with UNESCO issuing two successive reports in 1979 and 1980 calling for preserving Aleppo’s Old City. Just a few years later, in 1983, the World Symposium for the Protection of Old Aleppo, held by the Aleppo branch of the Engineers’ Syndicate, called for the preservation of the traditional urban fabric of the Old City while adopting new ideas to provide public services there.

The Ministry of Culture issued Decision No. 15 in 1986, listing some neighbourhoods outside the Old City walls as archaeological areas where construction and demolition are prohibited. A committee for the protection of the Old City was also formed. The escalating local objections to the Bab Al-Faraj project caused its suspension, the cancellation of Banshuya’s zoning plan and the establishment of a special Old City-dedicated office in the Aleppo municipality.

Then in 2001, the General Company for Engineering Studies (GCES) began studying the new zoning plan with an area of 41,000 hectares. The new project added 20,000 hectares to cover the needs for expansion until 2015; that included 4,000 hectares for the industrial zone in Sheikh Najjar, 8,000 hectares for residential urban development, 5,000 hectares as green tourism areas, and 3,000 hectares as protected zones around the city.

The GCES completed the zoning plan for Aleppo in 2004. Still, it overlooked key planning points such as transportation, services and investment activities. Consequently, the Aleppo municipality contracted again with the GCES to update the plan and issue several detailed zoning studies.

The general zoning plan for Aleppo was reissued multiple times in recent years, aiming to receive and study objections as part of the regular mechanism for issuing such plans. Most recently, in 2018, the plan underwent final approval by the executive office of Aleppo governorate. This plan was formally issued by the Decision of the Minister of Public Works and Housing No. 2650/S in April 2022, containing 30 areas for population expansion. The plan included two real estate development zones; Al-Haidariya, with an area of 80 hectares to accommodate 7,300 housing units, and Tel Al-Zarazir, with 60 hectares to accommodate about 6,000 apartments. The plan also put in place some industrial zones, such as in Khan Al-Asal. At the same time, the detailed zoning plan for the Karm Al-Jazmati informal settlement in east Aleppo was issued and added to the approved general zoning plan for the city.

Explained: Law No. 2 of 2023, Amending the Investment Law

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Two weeks ago the Syrian President issued Law No. 2 of 2023, which amended some parts of Investment Law No. 18 of 2021 and canceled Real Estate Development and Investment Law No. 15 of 2018 as well as its amendments. Essentially, Law No. 2 expands the scope of Law No. 18 to include real estate development and investment projects that had previously been regulated by Law No. 15 of 2008.

This new law was not part of the response to the February 6 earthquake, but rather had already been under discussion in the Parliament months earlier, as The Syria Report wrote previously. In theory, the law is meant to simplify investment procedures for real estate development, as well as stimulate investment via a handful of tax exemptions and administrative facilities. However, it does include a slew of issues that impact housing, land and property rights. 

Article 2 of Law No. 2 added “contribution to construction and urban development” to the goals of economic investment. Article 3 then clarified that the law’s provisions apply to a range of different projects including those for urban development and investment. 

Next, Article 4 confirms the Syrian Investment Agency (SIA), headquartered in Damascus, as the body overseeing investment in all sectors, including real estate. The SIA was established under Law No. 18 of 2021 and enjoys financial and administrative independence though it is affiliated with the Minister of Economy and Internal Trade. The SIA replaces the Real Estate Development and Investment Commission (REDIC), which was established by Law No. 15 of 2008. 

The duties of the now-defunct REDIC included regulating real estate development work; stimulating the private sector’s role and encouraging investment to participate in real estate development; help supply the housing and construction sector with land suitable for construction, as well as any necessary buildings, services and facilities; establish new residential suburbs and complexes; address informal settlements; and, finally, secure easily obtainable housing for low-income people.   

Law No. 2 also raised the number of SIA board members from 12 to 14, adding a representative from the Ministry of Public Works and Housing and a representative from the Regional Planning Commission. 

The new law entrusted the SIA board with the following additional duties: proposing certain state-owned properties to be used to establish real estate development and investment zones; proposing any advantages and easements for such projects; and granting development licenses to the real estate developers companies. 

Law No. 2 also replaced the term “real estate development zone” with the newer term “zone for real estate development and investment”. This was defined as any real estate or part of real estate covered by a decision to establish such a zone, whether it is currently built or unbuilt, and is subject to the provisions of Law No. 2. This is in contrast to Law No. 15 of 2008, which defined a real estate development zone as one that includes real estate both within and outside of zoned areas that can be secured from properties owned by the state, by local administrative units, by development companies or by private individuals. Under the executive instructions of Law No. 15, informal settlements could be addressed by establishing real estate development zones in their place, regardless of surface area. Law No.2 doesn’t mention informal settlements. 

Law No. 2 kept the SIA board’s power to propose establishing special economic zones, which it defined as any investment zones located within Syria’s customs zones — areas established with the goal of activating certain economic activities. These special economic zones were among the vague ideas included in the original Law No. 18 of 2021 and were divided into three types. Concerning housing, land and property rights is the so-called development zone, which is an administrative area considered to be an investment zone for development in order for reconstruction to take place in areas damaged by war. 

Law No. 2 increased the number of tax exemptions and customs incentives to include imported construction materials, equipment, machinery and other items needed to establish and equip tourism sites, hotels, accommodations, restaurants, entertainment facilities, and tourism services for investment projects. At the same time, however, Law No. 2 explicitly left out housing projects from the types of projects that would benefit from these exemptions and incentives. This is strange and not yet understood, as housing projects should receive priority in such exemptions, particularly after the February 6 earthquake and its disastrous impacts on buildings and housing, land and property rights. 

New Draft Law to Amend Investment Law

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Syria’s Council of Ministers has sent a completed draft amendment of Investment Law No. 18 of 2021 to the People’s Assembly for discussion. The amendments aim to address the disparity of investment laws, unify their references, and simplify investment procedures for real estate development. 

The most important of these amendments is the one that eliminates the General Commission for Real Estate Development and Investment (GCREDI), which is affiliated with the Ministry of Public Works and Housing. The commission will be replaced by the Syrian Investment Agency (SIA), which is part of the Ministry of Economy and Foreign Trade. 

Under the amendment, GCDRI employees will be transferred to the Ministry of Economy, with all their rights and statuses preserved. The Ministry of Public Works and Housing and the SIA are to split GCREDI’s properties, with coordination from the Central Agency for Financial Control. GCDRI funds will be shared between the Ministry of Economy and the SIA. However, technical matters related to urban development projects will remain within the Ministry of Public Works and Housing’s scope. 

The General Commission for Real Estate Development and Investment

The GCREDI is an administrative entity with financial and administrative independence. It is linked to the Minister of Public Works and Housing. Its headquarters is in Damascus, though it has branches in the governorates. Real Estate Development and Investment Law No. 15 of 2008 gave the management of the body to a board of directors headed by the Minister of Public Works and Housing. The aim was to prepare policies and general real estate development and investment plans and follow up on their implementation. After consulting with relevant administrative units, the board of directors was tasked with sending its proposals to set up real estate development zones to the prime minister. 

Under Law No. 15 of 2008, a real estate development zone may include land inside and outside zoning plans. It can be acquired from state property, property of an administrative unit, land belonging to development companies or from private individuals. The executive instructions for Law No. 15, issued by the Prime Minister in Decree No. 5410 of 2009, stipulated that informal housing areas may be addressed by declaring them real estate development zones regardless of their surface area. 

The Investment Agency

Real Estate Development Law No. 25 of 2011 will be modified per the new amendments. The phrase “Syrian Investment Agency” will replace the “General Commission for Real Estate Development and Investment,” while the Ministry of Economy and Foreign Trade will replace the Ministry of Public Works and Housing. 

It is unclear what will happen to Real Estate Development and Investment Law No. 15 of 2008. Some official statements suggested that it may be repealed, while others said it may be integrated with Investment Law No. 18 of 2021. The amendments also indicated that all the ongoing development and investment zones would become subject to the 2021 law. 

Law No. 18 of 2021 reshaped the Syrian Investment Agency, giving it the authority to propose the establishment of special economic zones. These areas are open for investment by the private sector or public-private partnerships. This law also reshaped the High Investment Council and tasked it with creating special economic zones, approving rental allowances for privately owned state property, and allocating land for investment projects. 

Also, under the recently proposed amendments, a representative from each of the following entities have been added to the Syrian Investment Agency’s board of directors: the Ministry of Public Works and Housing, the Regional Planning Commission, and the Planning and International Coordination Commission. Previously, this board only included representatives from the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Social Affairs, the Ministry of Local Administration, and the unions of chambers of commerce, industry, agriculture, and tourism.

New tasks related to real estate development have also been added to the responsibilities of the Syrian Investment Agency board of directors. These responsibilities include: 

  • approving the system for carrying out real estate development and assessment work based on an SIA proposal; 
  • proposing to secure real estate or portions of real estate needed to establish real estate investment and development zones from privately owned state property located either within or outside of zoning plans; 
  • deciding on the classification of projects; defining the foundations of projects that have a social dimension and altering them when needed;
  •  proposing a list of facilities and other advantages for such real estate investment and development projects;
  • approving licences for real estate development and investment companies and real estate developers; 
  • and revoking such licences if their conditions are violated.

Real estate developers

The proposed amendment to Law No. 18 gave real estate development companies a one-year deadline to settle their statuses with the High Investment Council, which can be extended once. A real estate developer is an executive company licensed and registered by the GCREDI. It has a direct relationship with rights holders in a real estate development zone, rather than those rights holders having a direct relationship with the state. 

Under the newly proposed amendments, imported construction materials needed to implement licensed real estate development and investment projects are exempted from all customs fees so long as the value of these imports does not exceed certain percentages. 

Revoking licences from development companies

In late November, the SIA announced that it had revoked the licences for some real estate development companies and investment approvals for some real estate development projects, which it described as “not serious.” The Ministry of Public Works and Housing had already cancelled some 38 licences for real estate development companies by mid-2022 as the companies had not completed the necessary procedures or payments. 

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