Resource information
There are many reasons to believe that
Syrian agriculture has great potential for the future. The
liberalisation of agriculture in Eastern Europe delivered
rapid growth in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Countries
such as Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Hungary,
Kazachstan, Romania and Russia achieved labour productivity
growth in constant US$ terms of over 7 percent between 1998
and 2004. Syria has a global comparative advantage in fruit
and vegetables. It also has access to high-value markets in
the Gulf Co-operation Council, Iraq and the European Union
(EU). This report makes suggestions for further small and
safe policy adjustments on the road to the social market. A
criterion for identifying the options below is that they
should not impose significant welfare losses on any target
group. Changes that empower the farmer and the private
trader are preferred.
