The People's Assembly begins discussing the investment bill

Damascus-Sana

The People's Assembly, in its eighteenth session of the second regular session held under the chairmanship of Hammouda Sabbagh, Speaker of the Assembly, began today to discuss the new draft law for investment, and the parliament approved by majority articles 1 to 10, except for Article 6, which was referred again to the Economic Affairs and Energy Committee for study and preparation of the necessary report on it, which concerns the president And members of the Supreme Investment Council, where a number of council members suggested adding other members to the council, such as "the ministers of public works, housing and transportation, and the heads of the Federation of Trade Unions and the Federation of Chambers of Agriculture."

The draft law aims, according to its second article, to "create a competitive investment environment to attract capital and benefit from various expertise and specializations to expand the production base with the aim of increasing job opportunities and raising economic growth rates, which will positively affect the increase in national income, leading to comprehensive and sustainable development."

The rest of the approved articles indicate that the provisions of the draft law apply to the project that the investor establishes alone or through joint companies with any of the public sector entities except for banks of all kinds, exchange companies and all financial institutions that accept deposits while investment in Syria governs a number of principles, most notably the guarantee The stability of the investment promotion policy in the country.

The aforementioned articles also show that among the investment guarantees, “it is not permissible to place a precautionary seizure on the project or impose receivership on it except in accordance with a judicial decision, and not to expropriate the project except for public benefit and compensation equivalent to the real value of the project according to the prevailing price on the date of acquisition”.

According to Article 7, the Supreme Investment Council undertakes a number of tasks, the most prominent of which is the approval of general strategies and plans related to investment and the general map for it, the creation of special economic zones, the study of legislation and regulations related to investment and the taking of the necessary actions in this regard, the approval of the rental fees for the state's private property, and the determination of the minimum value of fixed assets or capital for investment projects. .

In addition, a public body of an administrative nature called the “Syrian Investment Commission”, according to Article 8, replaces the body created by Legislative Decree No. 9 of 2007, with its rights and obligations, and enjoys legal personality, financial and administrative independence, and is linked to the Minister of Economy and Foreign Trade, which is based in Damascus. It may create branches or offices in the governorates by a decision of the Board of Directors.

The Syrian Investment Authority undertakes a number of tasks according to Article 10, including “implementing investment plans approved by the Supreme Council for Investment, studying proposals related to investments received therein, proposing amending the necessary legislation to develop and modernizing the investment environment, preparing and updating the private investment map in coordination with the concerned authorities and granting investment licenses after issuing all licenses. And the necessary approvals for the implementation of the project in accordance with the approved procedures manuals.

The session, which was attended by the Minister of Economy and Foreign Trade, Dr. Muhammad Samer Al-Khalil, and the State for People's Assembly Affairs, Eng. Malloul Al-Hussein, rose to the eleventh hour of the afternoon tomorrow, Wednesday.

 Wasim Al-Adawy and Amer Deeb