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July 2010 - News
July 2010

US technology delegation visits Syria

Executives from US technology firms Microsoft, Dell, Cisco Systems, VeriSign and Symantec met with President Bashar al-Assad during a visit to Damascus from June 14 to 17.

Members of the delegation also met with Minister for Economic Affairs Abdullah al-Dardari, Minister of Communications and Technology Imad Sabouni, Minister of Higher Education Ghiath Barakat and a number of Syrian business people and civil society leaders. The delegation also visited the state-run University of Aleppo and the private University of Kalamoon.

A spokesperson at the US embassy in Damascus said Assad and US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns came up with the idea for the delegation during a February meeting between the two in Damascus.

The purpose of the trip, wrote the conservative-leaning American newspaper, the Wall Street Journal, was "to woo President Bashar al-Assad away from his strategic alliance with Iran" by showcasing the benefits of US information technology which could be accessed if sanctions were lifted.

American firms have a tough time doing business in Syria given a raft of sanctions levied against the country by the US government. Former US President George W. Bush imposed the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act in 2004 which bars the sale of goods containing more than 10 percent of US-manufactured parts. Computer components which promote the internet and help Syria connect to the world are, in theory, exempt from the sanctions. The US president can also waive the sanctions if he deems it is in the national security interests of the US to do so.

Despite this, Syria ran into difficulties sourcing IT equipment to run the Damascus stock exchange. Likewise, Syrians are also prevented from using a number of websites hosted in the US. These include SourceForge, a repository for open-source software, while Google does not allow people in Syria to download its Chrome browser.

Despite the sanctions Syrian-US trade is on track to hit a record this year, figures from the US Census Bureau show.