InfoAnda - Entrepreneurs exploit economics of Syria uprising |

Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case
Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They

Taiwan denies boycotting Australian film festival
Thursday, August 6, 2009

AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e

Merkel's support dips, regional ally resigns International
Thursday, September 3, 2009

By Sarah Marsh and Noah Barkin

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German

Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who

Asian markets mixed after Wall Street rally
Wednesday, March 18, 2009

By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an

Smoking May Be Linked To Decreased Parkinson's Disease Risk | 11 March 2010
Obama to request suspension of Guantanamo cases | 21 January 2009
Departing Microsoft visionary Ray Ozzie sees "post-PC" world | 27 October 2010

NKorean cargo ship could test new UN sanctions | 24 June 2009

Forum Views () Forum Replies ()

Read more with google mobile : Entrepreneurs exploit economics of Syria uprising |

Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Home Business Business Home Economy Technology Media Small Business Legal Deals Earnings Social Pulse Business Video The Freeland File Markets Markets Home U.S. Markets European Markets Asian Markets Global Market Data Indices M&A Stocks Bonds Currencies Commodities Futures Funds peHUB World World Home U.S. Brazil China Euro Zone Japan Mexico Russia India Insight World Video Reuters Investigates Decoder Politics Politics Home Election 2012 Issues 2012 Candidates 2012 Tales from the Trail Political Punchlines Supreme Court Politics Video Tech Technology Home MediaFile Science Tech Video Tech Tonic Social Pulse Opinion Opinion Home Chrystia Freeland John Lloyd Felix Salmon Jack Shafer David Rohde Bernd Debusmann Nader Mousavizadeh Lucy P. Marcus David Cay Johnston Bethany McLean Edward Hadas Hugo Dixon Ian Bremmer Mohamed El-Erian Lawrence Summers Susan Glasser The Great Debate Steven Brill Jack & Suzy Welch Breakingviews Equities Credit Private Equity M&A Macro & Markets Politics Breakingviews Video Money Money Home Tax Break Lipper Awards 2012 Global Investing MuniLand Unstructured Finance Linda Stern Mark Miller John Wasik James Saft Analyst Research Alerts Watchlist Portfolio Stock Screener Fund Screener Personal Finance Video Money Clip Investing 201 Life Health Sports Arts Faithworld Business Traveler Entertainment Oddly Enough Lifestyle Video Pictures Pictures Home Reuters Photographers Full Focus Video Reuters TV Reuters News Article Comments (0) Slideshow Full Focus Editor's choice Our top photos from the last 24 hours. Full Article Images of February Follow Reuters Facebook Twitter RSS YouTube Read IRS may share tax info with police to fight fraud 20 Mar 2012 UPDATE 1-U.S. IRS forms 'SWAT team' for tax dodger crackdown 20 Mar 2012 Harry Potter actor jailed for rioting in London 20 Mar 2012 Bernanke says gold standard wouldn't solve problems 20 Mar 2012 Republican budget draws election contrast with Obama 20 Mar 2012 Discussed 191 Dozens arrested at Occupy’s 6-month anniversary rally 155 Exclusive: U.S., Britain to agree emergency oil stocks release 130 Republican budget plan seeks to play up tax reform Watched Flying robot swarms the future of search and rescue Tue, Mar 20 2012 Scores killed in Iraq bomb blasts Tue, Mar 20 2012 After Apple dividend: who is next? Mon, Mar 19 2012 Entrepreneurs exploit economics of Syria uprising Tweet Share this Email Print Related News Syria rebels quit eastern city; Russia critical Tue, Mar 20 2012 Blast hits Aleppo; clashes and protests across Syria Sun, Mar 18 2012 Twin bombings in Damascus kill at least 27, almost 100 hurt Sat, Mar 17 2012 Turkey considers Syria buffer zone; Annan seeks unity Fri, Mar 16 2012 Syrian forces press offensive in Idlib, 45 killed Thu, Mar 15 2012 Analysis & Opinion Saudi words won’t ease pressure on U.S. fuel prices U.S. housing hangover finally wearing off Related Topics World » United Nations » Syria » 1 of 5. A general view shows the Al Maysat roundabout in Damascus March 11, 2012. Opportunistic builders, loan sharks and black market importers have all done well from the revolt, Syrians say. Residents say security companies, selling close-circuit television cameras and thick steel doors to fretful Syrians who want to beef up home safety, have also seen a boom in sales. Picture taken March 11, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Khaled Al-Hariri By Oliver Holmes BEIRUT | Wed Mar 21, 2012 10:51am EDT BEIRUT (Reuters) - While Syria's economy as a whole has been crippled by violent unrest, there are some people for whom the uprising has created business opportunities. Take building contractor Ahmed, who asked to be identified only by his first name for fear of arrest. He has been artfully building unlicensed, small-scale housing while the authorities are distracted with the more pressing task of quelling a revolt. "Yes, yes, I exploit the revolution. The government is preoccupied," the 48-year-old said from his home in Aleppo, Syria's northern, sprawling merchant city of 2.5 million people. "I used to do some covert building before, but now I'm fairly public about it," the entrepreneur added. President Bashar al-Assad's forces have killed more than 8,000 people in his drive to crush the year-long uprising, according to the United Nations, with his troops fanning out around the country to try to stamp out the opposition. Opportunistic builders, loan sharks and black market importers have all done well from the revolt, Syrians say. Urban residents say security firms, selling closed-circuit television cameras and thick steel doors to fretful Syrians who want to beef up home safety, have also seen a boom in sales. Jihad Yazigi, a Damascus-based economist and editor of the English-language Syria Report, said that in the early days of the revolt Syrians saw that inflation would become a threat - the value of the Syrian pound against the dollar has roughly halved since the unrest started. They therefore sought to buy property or build on existing land holdings as an investment. This strategy appears to have worked, with house values remaining fairly strong in areas not directly caught up in the fighting. "We saw a lot of illegal building in the first few months of the revolution, not only because people were afraid of inflation but because many people had plans to build but they didn't have licences," Yazigi told Reuters over the telephone from Damascus. He said authorities had since clamped down on illegal building in the capital, while cement and steel prices have risen sharply, making construction more expensive. But in other parts of Syria, the building boom appears to have continued. For Syrian men, owning one's own property is often a prerequisite to getting married; high demand has driven up house prices. For Syrian fathers, slyly adding a floor or two to the family home is often cheaper than buying apartments for sons. ILLEGAL BUSINESS Other entrepreneurs have taken advantage of the chaos in the country's banking sector, which is reeling from economic sanctions and falling foreign currency reserves; Western and some Arab countries have banned imports of Syrian oil and cut financial ties with Syrian banks, among other steps. Syria's bank deposits have shrunk almost a third since the unrest began. Few banks are willing to sell scarce foreign currency, for which demand grows as the Syrian pound weakens, and bazaar-based currency traders selling dollars in the central markets of Damascus have profited from panic buying. Bank loans appear nearly impossible to acquire, creating opportunities for unlicensed loan sharks. Ali, 34, works for his father, a struggling farmer who has been trying to keep the family business alive but has been refused loans from both state-owned and private banks. "My father ended up borrowing money from a loan shark," Ali said, adding that the loan was a three-month advance at 50 percent interest, with a 25 percent surcharge for late payment. "I was so surprised at how organized it was, and how he had official papers. Everyone is having to take out these loans now and the lenders are working openly while the police are distracted." In an effort to preserve foreign currency reserves, the government has increased customs tariffs on some imports to prevent currency from leaving the country. Syrians who are in need of foreign-manufactured goods, such as medical drugs, have been forced to look to the black market. Lama, a 25-year-old pharmacist in the capital, says there has been a marked increase in the trade of black market drugs. "We have been forced at the pharmacy to deal with smugglers. Medicine is not something that can be postponed. If we don't boost our supplies using illegal means then customers, especially those with chronic diseases, will try to get smuggled medicine themselves." And as queues to obtain heating oil and petrol lengthen and the government raises the official prices of fuel, city residents increasingly head to the flourishing black market. Issa, a mid-twenties student in Damascus, said he had noticed a change of business practice in the petrol station where he works part-time. "As fuel prices rise, my boss has hired more people to walk along the queue of cars waiting for petrol. When they see people give up waiting and drive off, they stop them and ask if they want to buy fuel at a higher price," Issa said. "The queues are so long that people are willing to pay extortionate prices." TRADE AGREEMENT Some Syrian manufacturing companies have managed to exploit the diplomatic turmoil and Assad's bitter attitude towards past allies who have turned against him because of his violent crackdown on the democracy movement. Turkey was once one of Syria's closest allies, but late last year Ankara imposed sanctions and Assad retaliated in December by scrapping a free trade agreement with Turkey. This caused prices of imports into Syria to soar - a boon for some local manufacturers. A Western diplomat in Beirut said that for many Syrian businesses, the collapse of the free trade agreement had been a huge help. Although it may not offset all the other negatives which have come with the crisis, at least Syrian manufacturers no longer have to compete with cheaper, and possibly higher-quality, Turkish imports, the diplomat said. Damascus economist Yazigi agrees. "When the free trade agreement was suspended, we saw a boom in local manufacturing. Syrian textiles, furniture and food products are selling well," he said. "The cheap Syrian pound has even allowed some firms to export products to Iraq." However, many people in Syria believe that the general economic crisis is so severe that even the most savvy entrepreneurs are probably only breaking even. The government has not provided figures for how the unrest has affected gross domestic product, but Yazigi estimated the economy may have shrunk 15 percent last year and could shrink a further 15 percent or more this year. The government has warned citizens of the possibility of wider energy rationing, blaming terrorists for the sabotage of power plants, in what economists and business leaders say is an effort to conserve scarce fuel. The Syrian government says these "armed terrorists" have killed more than 2,000 soldiers and police during the unrest. And as the value of the Syrian pound has plummeted, the cost of living has sky-rocketed. Many Syrians are unable to buy anything but the bare essentials. The official inflation rate was 15 percent in January; some basic goods such as sugar, butter, vegetable oil and eggs have risen in price by as much as 100 percent. "It may be true that Syrian businesses have less foreign competition, but if Syrians are not even buying products and everything costs double, what does it matter either way," a Damascus resident said. "You do what you can, but everyone is still suffering." (Editing by Andrew Torchia) World United Nations Syria Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above. Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Back to top Reuters.com Business Markets World Politics Technology Opinion Money Pictures Videos Site Index Legal Bankruptcy Law California Legal New York Legal Securities Law Support & Contact Support Corrections Advertise With Us Connect with Reuters Twitter Facebook LinkedIn RSS Podcast Newsletters Mobile About Privacy Policy Terms of Use AdChoices Copyright Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance Our next generation legal research platform Our global tax workstation Thomsonreuters.com About Thomson Reuters Investor Relations Careers Contact Us Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests. NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.

Other News on Wednesday, 21 March 2012
U.S. lacks proof on Afghan shooting: suspect's lawyer |
Big earthquake hits Mexico, no major damage reported |
Obama to visit South Korea's border with North: U.S. official |
U.S. exempts Japan, 10 EU nations from Iran sanctions |
Thousands attend funeral of Egypt's Pope |
Government imposes low duties on Chinese solar panels |
Mauritania agrees to Senussi extradition, Libya says |
Kenya sentences education official to jail for graft |
Oracle software sales rise, hardware falls |
HTC unit Beats close to buying music service MOG: source |
HP to merge printer, PC arms in revamp: sources |
Windows Phone surpasses Symbian in Britain: survey |
Apple vs. Android: A courtroom war of attrition |
Diller-backed Aereo countersues Fox, PBS |
Jennifer Lawrence fires up The Hunger Games |
Syrian cartoonist paid price for getting personal |
Daughter of ailing Zsa Zsa Gabor seeks court help |
Ashton Kutcher to fly on Branson's first spacecraft |
Harry Potter actor jailed for rioting in London |
School killings suspect wounds three in French raid |
U.N. chief warns of massive repercussions from Syria crisis |
Bomb explodes near Indonesia's Paris embassy: Indonesian minister |
U.S. lacks proof on Afghan shooting: suspect's lawyer |
Car bomb explodes in Somali capital, wounds two |
Big earthquake rattles Mexico, no major damage |
Israel asks to clear Cairo embassy contents: Egypt sources |
Protests loom as Hong Kong braces for new leader |
U.S. exempts 11 states from Iran sanctions; China, India exposed |
South Korea, U.S. to hold more Iran oil talks shortly |
Olympus foreign shareholders renew call for independent chairman |
Oracle software sales rise offsets weak hardware |
Spansion, Nuance offer new speech package for cars |
Apple vs. Android: A courtroom war of attrition |
Bono's private equity firm on tour for $1 billion |
Kiss, Motley Crue unite for U.S. tour |
Megabomb John Carter may be Hollywood's biggest loser |
George Michael fighting fit, to re-start tour |
Iraqi al Qaeda claims bombs targeting summit security |
Car bomb rocks Somali capital, al Shabaab says responsible |
Gorbachev says revive Russian social democratic party |
Special Report: French hopeful Hollande says he's nothing to fear |
Road ahead rocky for Tunisia's newly liberated media |
Swedish equality fades away as rich get richer |
Road to radicalization from Toulouse to Kandahar |
Entrepreneurs exploit economics of Syria uprising |
HP to merge printer, PC businesses |
Chrome wins weekend browser battle with IE: report |
Wal-Mart to offer Angry Birds merchandise, clues |
Electric car revolution faces increasing headwinds |
Hedge fund Third Point files Yahoo board challenge |
Digital skills shortage leaves EU youth a step behind |
IBM ramps up data analytics offerings |
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights

USD EUR - 1 year graph		BlogMeter 1.01