Syrian trade balance becomes positive after ten years

Syrian exports in the first quarters of this year reached 47.3 billion Syrian pounds against 44.8 billion Syrian pounds for imports for the same period of last year and therefore the Syria trade has achieved a poisitive balance estimated at 2.5 billion Syrian pounds for the first time since ten years.

A study released by the central bureau for statistics, explained the details of the Syrian exports in the months of January, February and March for the year 2000, said that 35 billion Syrian pounds of the total exports were of crude oil besides other oil by-products which reached 1.5 billion Syria pounds, After oil comes textiles whose costs reached 5.2 billion SP and then raw cotton at 1.8 billion SP and third came the exports of fruits and vegetables at a cost of 2.1 billion SP and fourth came sheep at 1 billion Syrian pounds.

The statistics said that the main importing countries from Syria are the member states of the European Union which imported at a cost of 31 billion SP in the first quarters of this year while its imports from Syria for the same period of 1999. After the EU states came the Arab states which imported from Syria at 7.5 billion SP, exports at 8 billion Syrian pounds to Asian states and to the Commonwealth( former Soviet Union states ) states 1.5 billion SP.

The statistic said that Italy in the top of states which imported from Syria at 18.1 billion SP and then came France at 9.4 billion SP and among the Arab states came Saudi Arabia in the first grade where Syrian exports were at a cost of 1 billion SP. Tomader