The Elaf Fund will finance projects including the purchase of two airports in the city of Aleppo from Saudi investors committing $2 billion.
Published on February 7, 2026
Syria and Saudi Arabia have signed a major investment package in aviation, energy, real estate and telecommunications as Damascus’ new leadership seeks to rebuild after 14 years of destruction. civil war.
Talal al-Hilali, the head of the Syrian Investment Authority, announced a series of deals on Saturday, including the development of a new international airport in Aleppo, the launch of low-cost Syrian-Saudi airlines and a telecommunications project called SilkLink aimed at turning the country into a regional hub.
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Saudi Arabia is a major backer of Syria’s new leaders, who took power after toppling a longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, with the latest deal marking the largest investment since the United States lifted sanctions on the country in December.
Saudi Investment Minister Khalid Al-Falih said the newly launched Elaf Fund, which aims to finance large-scale projects with the participation of Saudi private sector investors, will commit $2bn (7.5 billion Saudi riyals) to develop two airports in the Syrian city of Aleppo.
Rebuilding the Syrian economy
Syrian Communications and Information Technology Minister Abdulsalam Haykal said his country will invest nearly $1 billion in the telecommunications sector, with plans to lay thousands of kilometers of cables to boost connectivity between Asia and Europe.
Saudi budget carrier Flynas and the Syrian Civil Aviation Authority announced that they have signed an agreement to establish a new airline called “Flynas Syria”, which will be 51 percent owned by the Syrian side and will start operations in the fourth quarter of 2026.
Syria’s Ministry of Energy has signed a water deal with Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power, known for operating power generation and desalinated water production plants in the Middle East and beyond.
Al-Hilali said the agreements “targeted key areas that affect people’s lives and form essential pillars for rebuilding the Syrian economy.”
Tom Barrack, the US envoy to Syria, praised the Saudi-Syrian deal on X. “Strategic partnerships in aviation, infrastructure and telecommunications will contribute meaningfully to Syria’s reconstruction efforts,” he said.
But Benjamin Fave, senior research analyst at Karam Shaar Consultancy, said more cautiously that in the short term the deals were “more important as political signals than economic game changers”.
The government has faced criticism over the past year for making sweeping development promises based on written promises to foreign investors, many of which have yet to be translated into binding contracts.