Damascus fair encourages people to 'buy Syrian'

Syria's entrepreneurs, suffering from crippling losses after four years of civil war, have launched a drive to encourage consumers hit by burgeoning inflation and a shortage of imports to "buy Syrian".

A first instalment of the "Made in Syria" fair in Damascus this month attracted around 60 local companies to showcase products that are both easier to acquire and far cheaper than whatever imports are available.

Fuad Adam is sales director at kitchenware company Heart, whose factory in Douma, near the capital, was destroyed by months of fighting.

But he is at the fair anyway, offering whatever wares could be saved before the plant was reduced to rubble.

"We're participating in this exhibition to keep our brand alive in the minds of consumers," he explains, as shoppers make their way through what looks like a makeshift hypermarket set up in a sports complex in the Mazzeh residential district.

Organised by the Damascus Chamber of Industry, the fair aims to "promote our industry and encourage people to buy Syrian products, which are half as expensive as imported goods," says chamber official Mohammed Omar.

This first event was such a success that organisers are planning monthly fairs, not only in the capital, but also in other areas under government control, including one in the western province of Tartus in May.

They could be a major boon for Syrian consumers, whose purchasing power has been devastated as the economy has crumbled amid the fighting.

Millions of Syrians have been driven into exile by a war that has killed more than 220,000 people, and the United Nations estimates that four out of five of those who remain are living below the poverty line.

Dania, 30, says she came to the fair just "to walk around." But she ends up with such a load of cleaning products, milk, cheese and even thyme, all of which were discounted to encourage spending, that her husband has to carry the bag for her.

"It's worth it," she says. "It's half the price of the store." For Dania, like many other Syrians, buying imported products has become nearly impossible.

Syria's currency has plunged since the beginning of the conflict in 2011, dropping from 50 pounds to the dollar to 300 pounds this year.

To limit the damage caused by a foreign currency shortage, authorities are curbing imports while trying to promote exports, according to Fares Shehabi, president of the Syrian Federation of Chambers of Industry.

"Whatever we can produce here will no longer be imported. We will be able to provide the market with many products," he says. But boosting exports will be difficult for a country where many companies and businessmen have been under international sanctions since 2012.

Syria's exports have plunged from $11.3 billion (10.5 billion euros) in 2010 to only $1.8 billion last year, according to pro-government newspaper Al-Watan.