Dec 15 Economy

Syria oil sanctions will fail: Gulfsands
December 15, 2011 01:29 AM
By Emma Farge
Reuters
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Business/Middle-East/2011/Dec-15/156898-syria-oil-sanctions-will-fail-gulfsands.ashx

LONDON: Sanctions on Syria's oil sector are squeezing the country in the short term but production and exports are likely to resume once Syrian oil companies find new Asian partners to buy their oil, a Gulfsands executive told Reuters.

Gulfsands, which sources over 90 percent of its output from Syria, has shut down production there along with oil major Royal Dutch Shell and Canada's Suncor Energy due to the latest set of EU sanctions.

"If I could find an angle to sue the British government and the European Union, I would do it. Sanctions do not work – look at Iran, look at Iraq," Gulfsands' President Mahdi Sajjad said in an interview this week.

The company declared force majeure earlier this week after the EU added Syrian state-owned firms such as GPC to a blacklist, although the company continues its exploration activities. Gulfsands' share price hit a three-month low Monday when the company announced its withdrawal.

Sajjad said that Syrian companies will likely resume pumping oil from joint sites without the presence of foreign partners in a move which he said would allow oil revenues to keep flowing to President Bashar Assad's embattled government.

"They [sanctions] have partly succeeded as Syrians have struggled to export oil but I think they are going to try to find a way to keep producing.

There are companies in India, South Korea, Russia and China interested in buying the oil and they will make it possible to ship oil east of the Mediterranean," he said.

Syria is a relatively small producer, pumping less than 1 percent of daily global production but this accounts for a vital portion of government earnings, which Western powers say could be used by the government to crackdown on opposition."

Sajjad, a founding member of Gulfsands who helped lead the firm into Syria in the early 2000s, said that the company is seeking to buy regional production assets in the next two-three months, adding that likely targets are in Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt and Oman.

"We need to be a bit aggressive. Our strategy is to try to find some assets through acquisition or merger," he said adding that he expects to buy in the next two-three months.

He said the fact that the company had no debt meant it would be able to raise enough capital to buy assets worth over $100 million.

In the long term, Sajjad said Gulfsands would remain interested in Syria because of offshore exploration blocks and because of its potential as a future corridor for Iraqi oil. OPEC member Iraq has an official goal to ramp up production capacity to 12 million bpd by 2017 as it rebuilds after years of war and economic sanctions.

"Iraq will always have to look to Syria as a future transit point to deliver to Europe. There's too much risk to the region for it all to go through the Straits of Hormuz," he said.

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مقاولو حلب و إدلب يشتكون من أوضاعهم بسبب الظروف التي تمر بها البلاد ويطالبون الجهات المعنية بـ "حلول" !
Aleppo and Idlib contractors complain about their situation because of the circumstances experienced by the country concerned and want to "solutions"!
http://www.aksalser.com/index.php?page=view_articles&id=9022f3d8dd4e12e0d4f3c4059354602d&h=%CD%E1%C8&ar=552079363
Thursday - December 15 - 2011 - 16:21:41

Complained a number of contractors of Aleppo and Idlib of the difficult situation that they have achieved because of the circumstances of the country, which hinder a lot of projects that have contracts on them.

After six months on a number of complaints, published through Aks al-Ser and a lot of newspapers, which are submitted to a number of stakeholders, they say they did not obtain justice after.

"Muhammad Fawwaz Ajouz" (contractor in Aleppo): "The security conditions prevented us, and our workers barred from access to project sites, and not being able to have the material necessary for the implementation of the business."

"Ajouz" to the circumstances that led to the increase in prices (materials, labor) and up to a hundred percent.

"The diesel fuel is the main nerve in our work, and diesel fuel is not abundant."

The Contractors in their complaint that "the Arab and Turkish ban unfair led to the loss of the materials described in our projects in local markets."

As an example, said contractors in the complaint they made to the Director-General of the General Organization for Housing, "a reference to the contracts concluded with them, according to the books of the conditions and statements discretion, it is stated item Turkish marble in most of the flooring/paving (Alabaster Insert - Alabaster Habsat - alabaster tables fields - tiles in Turkish share - Turkish Ahv and overalls). "

And continued: "Due to the lack of these materials in the local markets and, if so, their prices have doubled contract price as a result of the unjust embargo on Syria, and to increase tariffs by 30% from the Syrian side, and 30% of the Turkish side."

And went on: "In addition to transportation costs, which increased ｂｙ 200 percent."

According to contractors largely reflected the situation on all projects, and were forced to stop working, and pay their workers, which led to the displacement of many families to work for them.

Another contractor and said: "We can no longer cover the huge losses we incur, which was started months ago, knowing that we have resisted and endured to some extent out of our control after we lost and we lost a lot."

And contractors appealed to the concerned authorities to kindly study their situations, and in particular to justify the length of time from the date of 03.15.2011 and the date that work was like in the projects is down for reasons beyond their control (force majeure), as stipulated in the contract law / 51 / of 2004.

Similarly the treatment of private sector contractors with the public sector of the differences in prices and increase in salaries and wages, and develop a mechanism to indemnify us for price differences consistent with actual prices in the market, knowing that we are ready to contribute our time and effort and expertise without profit or loss of service to our country Syria.

States that among the contractors who have complained over Aks al-Ser "Muhammad Fawaz Ajouz, Zaki Saadiq, Abdel-Moneim Ghazzaal, Muhammad Zuhair Qattaa', Ahmad al-Hasan, Khalaf al-Hasan, Basil Abu Dan, Khalil Muhammad Mustafa, Faa'iz Mousa, Radwan Jankhi, Mustafa Shaar."

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قريباً في الاستثمار .. مشروع لإنتاج الأدوية السرطانية بدرعا بكلفة مليار ليرة
Soon in the investment .. Project to produce cancer drugs in Daraa cost of one billion pounds
http://www.aksalser.com/index.php?page=view_news&id=c89e5477c7d9eef40f2ed72e09abd247&ar=158167641
Thursday - December 15 - 2011 - 13:26:59

Eng "Qasim Znich" Branch Manager Syrian Investment Agency in Daraa Maintaining attracted many investment projects, and will be completed soon, the draft includes drugs and cancer, which is the first of its kind in the country and the region, which was built in the motto north of the province and an area of ​​44 thousand square meters., with a total cost of more than one billion pounds and provides a hundred jobs and is one of the important projects due to the nature of humanitarian and medical.

According to the newspaper, the "al-Thawrah", he noted, "Znich" that the number of investment projects ongoing according to the investment law for the current year amounted to six projects, industrial, agricultural, and cost a 120 million SL, and secure more than 200 jobs in addition to several important projects have been invested to maintain such a laboratory drive laser and a project to generate electricity using wind power project for the production of iron armed, which reached the value of projects ongoing to about 33.734 billion pounds reached the 52 agricultural and industrial projects, service.

And included other projects related to the transport sector, including five projects include the transport of passengers and tour groups, goods and livestock inside and outside Syria, and arrived in capital of 275 million SL, in addition to agricultural projects included the cattle breeding and milk production and cultivation of fodder crops and projects to invest rock basalt is available in the province.

The branch manager investment in Daraa that work was underway to attract many of the Arab capital and investment to maintain, and there are currently two projects, one for Kuwaiti investors, including food products and juices, tomatoes, at a cost of half a billion pounds, in addition to the project for the company in Syria Saudi Arabia include the breeding birds of falsehoods and feed production up cost about 450 million pounds and the percentage of implementation of the project 85%.

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الهيئة العامة للثروة السمكية باللاذقية: مشروعات لتحسين الإنتاجية وتطوير الاستزراع السمكي
General Authority for Fish Wealth in Lattakia: Projects to improve productivity and the development of aquaculture
http://www.sana.sy/ara/7/2011/12/15/388454.htm
December 15, .2011
Lattakia, (SANA) -

The Organization of Fisheries in Latakia on the completion of a number of projects that will improve fish production in Syria and wealth preservation and development of fish and reduce their prices and the fight against illegal fishing, which drains the wealth.

It is part of the establishment of nature reserves to aquatic and lay the foundations of management to ensure the conservation of biodiversity in freshwater, marine and controls to plant fisheries open and closed, testing and propagation of fish species for the reconstruction of local fisheries.

And Muhammad Zinedine Director-General of the General Board of Fisheries that the Authority is developing plans and programs to maintain aquaculture, resource development and the development of fish farming in fresh water and sea to ensure the sustainability of productive activity and the search for areas of expansion in fish farming and the preparation of estimates of the energies expected to find the appropriate way to employ them in this area, in coordination with the concerned authorities.

The Zinedine that the authority is working on the preparation of draft laws and regulations for the protection of aquatic life in general and fisheries in particular and the organization of seasons hunting and follow up the implementation of laws and regulations and regulate the investment of public water in the education and the rationalization of fishing in which to ensure the sustainability of fisheries resources in addition to the supervision of fishing activity and safety of its means.

The manager of the Authority that the Authority is working to register Chidiat on the coast and inland waters and to encourage the introduction of the methods and modern technologies in fishing and leasing of fishing rights in inland waters not designated for drinking purposes or utilized optimally in line and ensure technical safety and environmental facilities, water and irrigation projects built on the facilities and the granting of fishing licenses of all kinds.

(omitted)

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التقرير الوطني الثاني حول حالة سكان سورية2010.. عدد سكان سورية سيتضاعف خلال العقود الأربعة القادمة
The second national report on the state's population Syria 2010 .. Syria's population will double in the next four decades
http://www.sana.sy/ara/2/2011/12/15/388553.htm
December 15, .2011
Damascus, (SANA) -

Ochehrt the Syrian Commission for Family Affairs on the second national report on the status of the population entitled Syria 2010 (opening of the window .. demographic challenges and opportunities) at the center Rida Said Conference at the University of Damascus.

Based on (a status report the population of Syria 2010) reference to the first national report of the population in 2008, depending the type of condensation when the methodological framework analytical theme of the president, a demographic window and analyze the demographic impact of the positive to the decline in population growth rate despite the limitations of a relatively open window demographics and the impact of opening up the last of the apparent increase the proportion of working-age population according to the supply mechanisms of demographic and economic demand as an opportunity as a necessity for the use of this increase in higher rates of economic growth.

The report focuses on the issue of supply demographic in terms of the growing size of the population on the one hand and the change in age structure of the community population in Syria, and implications on the structure of tenure of the population trends of positive demographic perspective also report focuses on the relationship between education associated with the offer demographic and employment associated with the offer of economic and identifying the core benefit the rising volume of manpower and transferred to the work force and (demographic gift).

The report pointed out that the rate of celibacy population 15 years and older rose from 33 percent in 1970 to about 43 percent in 2000 and then back down to 2.41 percent in 2001 and to 4.38 in 2009 and the report that the rate of participation of women in the labor force increased during the period from 1970 to 1995 nearly doubled from 7.10 percent to 8.19 percent, but declined in the recent period to (Editorial note: population growth rate) 8.15 percent in 2010 and the report pointed out that studies indicate that the unemployment rate was stable, did not fall below 8 percent.

The report noted that the relationship of population growth to education imposes an annual need of the people and to open new schools in addition to preparing educational cadres and a new administrative task for the advancement of education and care of new citizens who are more numerous than their peers in the previous year.

The report states that according to projected population increases will increase government spending on health each year, including more than 1200 million Syrian pounds to 1600 million Syrian pounds, which means that the current budget of the Ministry of Health should increase this amount annually to maintain the current level of spending.

Habib: The government has adopted in the framework of the comprehensive development process witnessed by Syria's approach to the solution of the issue of population development

Dr. Radwan Habib, Minister of Social Affairs and Labour said that perception and reality of the population issue is one of the most prominent perceptions of government as a prerequisite to identify the nature of this issue and its problems and know the limits and methods and mechanisms for review, adding that the government has adopted in the context of the overall development of its economic, cultural and social taking place in Syria under the leadership of Mr. President Bashar al-Assad's approach to the solution of the issue of development and the population moved from the field of pressure recognition of this issue to the adoption of curriculum development trends in the resolution and encourage the work to develop population policies that correspond to those directions.

He added that the first of a higher committee of the population was formed in 1985, a parcel with the exposure of the manifestations of the population problem resulting from high population growth and the disruption of demographics and continued the case with the government and the follow-up, where she called to the First National Conference on Population in 2001 and has worked to promote national dialogue on this issue and support the for Family Affairs to assume the responsibilities of support and information analytical research on this issue down to the one considered most important players in this regard.

The Minister of Social Affairs and Labor that a translation of the government to the principles of the transition to social market economy meets fully with the issues raised by the first national report of the population in Syria, which represents an authoritative report also meet with the ideas proposed with the effects and proposed second national report on the openness of the demographic window and turn it a policy to grant demographic.

He noted that the government has supported all the policies can benefit from the donation of demographic and hired reproductive health programs and legislation the labor market and stimulate economic growth and diversification of sources and work on the flexibility of the market in this direction from that man is the goal of development and the merits and performance at the same time indicating convergence Government's vision to fully with this report to resolve the issue of development of the Syrian population, linking demographic programs at the level of the supply and development programs at the level of demand.

The minister said the government would continue programs of institutional reform, which was deemed the report one of the key issues in the area of ​​the growing size of the working-age population and the labor-power market, noting that the government's plans and programs adopted to support the gift of demographic potential and preparation for the receiving of them grace and prevent to be a curse because the government is aware This work, which is located in the heart of government responsibilities and that he collected in the collective responsibility of all parties to address their development process, explaining that the Government encourages the principle of participatory and interactive between all components of society to discuss the issues of population and development. He concluded the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs that the government gives the experience, integrity and a serious national researchers all the attention is the report of plant quality in national discussions of the relationship of complementarity between population and development and that the article the scientific and the content of information and statistics, results and proposals are increased the rich to the government at the stage of implementation of the plan eleventh five-year, which adopted the principle of integrating the population factor in the development process.

Hamad: report (the case of the Syrian population 2010) issued by the Syrian Commission for Family Affairs is part of a series of functions, the agency issued every two years

In turn, said Dr. semi-Hamad, head of the Syrian Commission for Family Affairs, that the report (the case of the Syrian population 2010) is devoted to discuss the issue of openness of the demographic window is a continuation of the report of the first national population (the case of the Syrian population 2008) issued by the Authority, which is part of a series of population and development that the Commission on issued every two years.

She added that the report is the first person the population issue in its three dimensions of the high population growth rate is among the highest in the world and dislocations in the geographical distribution of population and low characteristics of quality of laying the base of analysis of the status of the population of the various aspects of recommending the issuance of quality reports in depth on each side of the aspects addressed by the .

And showed Dr. fairness to the series of reports on the status of the population in Syria aims to provide the scientific knowledge of the relationship between demographic changes taking place and the development process and to enable policy makers and decision makers to develop strategies, policies and plans in the light of understanding the dynamics of these changes, trends and Maatmthelh of new opportunities for the development process.

The Chair, the Syrian Commission for Family Affairs to provide such a knowledge base on population and development, develop and periodically update is part of the functions of the body that has issued so far in size regardless of the reports, surveys and various studies in the field of work, pointing to the current report focuses on the problems and issues of emergence indicators opening window demographic and motivating strategies, policies and plans to transform the large and growing increase in the volume of annual manpower and the labor force across demographic gift to resolve the matter elements of the Syrian population in the development framework integrating the issues of population and development at the same influence and exchange between them.

Straw: It is expected to increase the size of the Syrian population of 6.2 million people in 2010 to 2.42 million in 2050

Dr. Muhammad Akram straw Dean of Higher Institute of Population Studies and Research through the presentation of the report that the population problem in Syria of high population growth rate and imbalance in the geographical distribution of population and poor qualitative characteristics to accept the solution only at the level of relations of human development in all dimensions of comprehensive and integrated and that the manifestations of misalignment stands out in all levels of economic, social, cultural, political, albeit to varying degrees, pointing out that the basic elements of the population problem will remain in place during the next four decades, especially during the next two decades unless they are addressed the process of policy development interventions based on the interaction between policies and people and transform this problem from the stage of secretion of crises and bottlenecks to stage solutions that allow integration of the entire population in the development cycle, without exclusion or marginalization.

And Dr. straw that Syria still occupies position 23 in the world in terms of the level of high population growth rate, explaining that despite the decline in the rate of population growth in Syria from 3.3 percent in the eighties of the last century to about 3.2 percent currently, the average size of the annual increase for the population of Syria rose from about 250 thousand people in the eighties of the last century to more than 450 thousand people per year and will continue to increase the size of the average annual population in Syria to escalate during the next two decades to reach more than 560 thousand people per year.

He indicated that it expected to increase the size of the Syrian population of 6.2 million people in 2010 to 2.42 million in 2050 according to the imposition of high and to 3.4 million people, according to the imposition of the medium and to 4.38 million people, according to the imposition of low-ie, that the size of Syria's population will double in the next four decades due to dynamics of population momentum, which continues to decline even with functioning pre-and post-expected rate of population growth.

He said the increase you get in the age group which is located in the working age between 15 to 64 years of any in the category of manpower and that during the coming decades will increase the relative size of the population within the human power of 4.59 percent in 2010 to about 3.66 percent in 2050, an increase from 13 to 15 million people, warning that the visions, strategies and development policies must start from the principle of converting human power to the work force and reduce the gaps between them in the light of the merger between the concept of the labor force reserve and the concept of human power which can turn into a task force and the integration of certain groups or part of them was considered out of force work in the development process to take advantage of technological advances in the development of business that help this integration.

Dr. straw in the end of the show that the opportunity to benefit from the opening of the demographic window unconditional pursuing a population policy development interventions do not guarantee since 2010 to get to the gift demographic, but by building the capacity of human power flowing into the labor market and provide a development environment and economic able to absorb, adding that this requires policies institutional achieve integration between the supply provided by the opening of the demographic window and the application which is supposed to represent vital markets, economic growth and equitable distribution of income and the involvement of young people and women especially in the development efforts by enabling them and ensure that the fruits of development to them as shareholders and partners in the effort and the result together.

Attended by publicity, display and ministers of education and higher education, health, culture and the Chief of Planning and International Cooperation and President of Damascus University and a number of members of parliament and representatives of international organizations in Syria, organizations and associations in addition to academics, researchers and university professors.