Post by Bozur on Feb 26, 2005 19:42:41 GMT -5
Syria Gets EU Support
Arab News - 26/02/2005
Far from the mounting US and French political pressure on Syria, the country continues to enjoy an increasing economic support from the European Union (EU).
Only last week, the EU granted Syria an amount of 15 million euros to help it support its small and medium projects planned for next year. The European Commission (EC) even organized a workshop here a few days ago on financing small and medium enterprises in Syria and pledged further economic support.
Frank Hesske, head of the European Commission delegation in Damascus, said that the EC would continue to support Syria by carrying out various economic projects and organizing specialized workshops and seminars to help Syrian businessmen acquire the required skills and experiences for developing their national economy.
He said that the commission would review the performance of the Syrian-European Business Center (SEBC) to help it play a bigger role in developing economic cooperation between Syria and the EU. He announced that the new name of the center would be "Syria's Institutions."
"Syria's institutions will be playing a vital role in developing all public and private companies and institutions in Syria through helping them to create new work opportunities and increase their production and commercial exchange with their European counterparts, in particular," said Hesske addressing the participants in the workshop on small and medium enterprises held here recently.
Hesske added that the EU program of support, which started around 10 years ago, would provide economic support to some 3,500 Syrian companies and help qualify more than 2,500 professionals to acquire senior positions in various local businesses and establishments.
The EU has offered more than 235 million euros to Syria since 1995 as grants for supporting its various domains of energy, health, human resources and special industries.