SYRIAN BANKING CONFERENCE HEAVY ON CHEERLEADING,

C O N F I D E N T I A L DAMASCUS 005285

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

NEA/ELA; NSC FOR MORCHESE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/07/2016
TAGS: ECON EFIN EINV PREL SY
SUBJECT: SYRIAN BANKING CONFERENCE HEAVY ON CHEERLEADING,
LIGHT ON SUBSTANCE


Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Michael H. Corbin for reasons 1.4b/d


1. (C) Summary. A recent Syrian banking and financial
services conference served as a showcase of
self-congratulation for the SARG,s economic reforms,
asserting Syria is an engaged member of the global economy.
Various conference speakers bashed United States policy
towards Syria and speculated that U.S. policy towards the
SARG might be imminently changing. Overall, the conference
fell short of its billing as an open forum for debate, with
almost no criticism of SARG economic shortcomings. End
Summary.


2. (C) The 2nd Annual Syrian Banking and Financial Services
Conference held November 3-5 was the first conference of its
kind to receive the direct sponsorship of Syrian President
Bashar Asad, a duty usually relegated to Prime Minster Otri.
The conference, organized by the British-Syrian Society,
attracted an estimated 700 domestic and foreign business and
government leaders, and was entitled, &Integrating Syria
into the Global Economy.8 President Asad spoke at the gala
dinner, reiterating the conference theme that the SARG has
achieved remarkable economic growth in the last few years and
that he considers himself an agent of economic reform despite
tensions with the international community. (Note: IMF
estimates real GDP growth last year was 2.9%. End Note.)


3. (C) Deputy Prime Minster for Economic Affairs Abdullah
Dardari gave a keynote address that painted an equally rosy
picture of SARG efforts to modernize and "corporatize" the
economy, underscoring, as did many of the speakers, that
President Asad was the driving force behind these changes.
Several contacts commented to us privately that the event was
heavy on cheerleading and light on substance. Wissam Merhej,
the resident representative for Deloitte and Touche,
commented that while the event was billed as a dialogue
between the public and private sector, little substantive
give and take occurred. Illustrative of the point, the
Chairman of Dubai-based Emmar Properties, Mohamed Ali
Alabbar, whose company is pursuing a 500 million real estate
project here, was effusive in his public praise of Syria as
ripe for investment and the SARG as committed to reform.
However, his Syrian lawyer privately told us that the project
is a nightmare, and said that Alabbar likens his efforts to
get things moving on the project in Syria to "a war."


4. (U) David Hale, an American citizen with Hale Advisers,
figured prominently both days of the conference and asserted
during the sessions that the United States was losing money
through sanctions and that it would change its policy of
isolating Syria following the publication of the Baker Report
in January 2007. Hale further predicted sanctions would be
lifted from Syria within two years and that Syria would have
a Free Trade Agreement with the United States in five years.
Hale moderated the final session, &How U.S. Sanctions Affect
Economic Growth,8 that was stocked with anti-U.S. speakers,
including Dureid Dergham, Chairman of the Commercial Bank of
Syria (CBS). Dergham said that the SARG had done all it
could to avoid sanctions and that the United States was
simply not open to dialogue, preferring to use intimidation
tactics dangerous to the global community. Dergham outlined
negative effects of the USG's imposition of Section 311 of
the U.S. Patriot Act against the CBS, including causing a
slowdown in development, especially CSB,s growth rate;
forcing Syria to lose funds as it converts more of its
reserves from dollars to euros; and encouraging the
development of illegal businesses that subvert the sanctions.



5. (C) Comment: This conference is one of a number held by
the SARG in the last few years that it has used as an
opportunity to publicly praise its own modest and halting
efforts to reform its economy. This event coincides with the
SARG,s recent push to publicize its economic reform efforts
(septel). The SARG continues to speak about reform, but it is
unclear that vested interests are willing to do much more
than just provide the talk that those in the international
community want to hear. The event also touched on the theme
of Syria,s engagement with the world, and it is no
coincidence that this parallels recent re-engagement efforts
from EU countries and dovetailed with speculation in Damascus
that the United States may change its isolationist policies
towards Syria.
CORBIN