Syria: TRANSPORTATION AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS

TRANSPORTATION AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS



Overview: Since independence, the state has sought to develop a national transportation system connecting major population and economic areas, and improvements to infrastructure have figured prominently in economic development plans. The telecommunications system has been characterized as reasonably good and undergoing major improvements, including digital upgrades and fiber-optic technology. The current regime has placed great emphasis on enhancing Iraq’s Internet access.



Roads: Syria has an extensive and reasonably well-maintained network of 23,400 kilometers of main roads and 18,400 kilometers of secondary roads connecting major cities and linking to neighboring countries. About 10,000 kilometers of roads were reported to be paved, including almost 900 kilometers of expressways, as of 1999. A Kuwaiti company has undertaken a major road improvement project of upgrading the roadway between Latakia and Aleppo. The number of vehicles also has grown steadily with the decline in import duties on cars. A portion of the rapid expansion stems from the increase in Japanese- and Korean-made minibuses, which serve as privately owned and operated transport systems. This expansion in road transport comes at the expense of the rail network, however.



Railroads: Syria’s 2,425-kilometer rail network (standard-gauge) is generally adequate for transport needs. A recently initiated project is designed to upgrade the overall rail system and to improve links with neighboring countries, but the effort has been hampered between Damascus and Amman, Jordan, because a portion of the track in that area is narrow gauge. There is inexpensive, regular, but infrequent passenger service from Syria to Jordan, Turkey, Iran, and Iraq. Because of an increase in the speed and cost effectiveness of road transport, the rail system has experienced a decline in passengers, although the decline has been partly offset by a steady increase in freight use, especially for bulk commodities such as petroleum products, phosphates, cereals, and cement. In 1998, the last year for which statistics are available, Syrian trains recorded 182 million passenger-kilometers and carried about 5 million tons of freight. Syrian Railways is currently negotiating the purchase of 41 new locomotives.



Ports: Syria’s main ports are located at Baniyas, Jablah, Latakia, and Tartus. Tartus and Latakia each service approximately 2,800 vessels per year, with 1.5 million tons of goods loaded and 6.9 million tons of goods unloaded. Latakia handles primarily general cargo and Tartus, both general cargo and phosphates. Baniyas primarily serves the oil industry. Port facilities in both Tartus and Latakia need equipment upgrades. The European Investment Bank recently signed a loan agreement to finance the development and modernization of the Tartus port, and Russian and Greek companies are conducting a dredging project to enable larger ships to anchor at both ports. Ports are state-run and lack sufficient funding; inadequate facilities, slow turnaround, cumbersome customs processing and regulations, and abundant corruption hamper port operations. The Ministry of Transport has attempted to lower fees in order to make Syrian ports more competitive with neighboring country ports, but shippers reportedly still find them outdated and inefficient.



In 2003 Syria’s merchant marine totaled 122 ships: 12 bulk, 101 cargo, 2 container, 4 livestock carrier, 1 petroleum tanker, 1 refrigerated cargo, and l roll on/roll off. Fifteen vessels are foreign owned, and 83 are registered in other countries.



Inland Waterways: Approximately 900 kilometers of inland waterways in Syria are navigable, but this method of transport is not regarded as economically significant.



Civil Aviation and Airports: In 2003 Syria had a reported 93 airports, including 26 with paved runways and five with runways of more than 3,000 meters, as well as seven heliports. Syria’s three international airports, located at Damascus, Aleppo, and Latakia, carry an average of 2.5 million passengers on 13,000 flights each year. Syria also moved 33,000 tons of freight by air in 2001. The government-owned national carrier, Syrian Arab Airlines (SyrAir) offers scheduled services to destinations throughout the Middle and Far East, Europe, and North Africa. SyrAir completed a major upgrade of its fleet in early 2000 when it received the last of the six A-320 Airbus aircraft it had purchased. SyrAir also released tenders to overhaul its aging Boeing aircraft. The remainder of the fleet is mostly Soviet-era aircraft used for domestic travel.

Pipelines: Syria had 2,300 kilometers of gas pipelines and 2,183 kilometers of oil pipelines in 2004. Syria lost a major source of revenue in March 2003 when the war in Iraq shut down a pipeline carrying crude oil into Syria.



Telecommunications: Telecommunications, which are controlled by the Syrian Telecommunications Establishment and regulated by the Ministry of Communications, are developing steadily despite limited resources. The government has given priority to the improvement of telecommunications and has used development funds from Gulf states to install modern digital systems throughout the country. Telephone lines increased from 500,000 in 1991 to about 2 million in 2002, but fell well short of the government’s goal of 3.4 million lines by 2002 and 4 million by 2004. The waiting list for main lines is reported to exceed 2 million lines. Teledensity was only 14.7 per 100 in 2002, ranking Syria fifth lowest in the Middle East region; the government was aiming for a teledensity of 10 per 100 by 2004. Syria has not kept pace with the rest of the region in developing its mobile telecommunications network. In early 2001, the government issued two build-operator-transfer (BOT) telephone licenses for the installation of a mobile communications network involving 850,000 lines. The two companies involved had previously created limited pilot service in Damascus and Aleppo beginning in early 2000. The mobile network had reached a capacity of 60,000 by mid-2001 and was being expanded, reaching about 400,000 cell phones by 2002.

Syria is reported to have 44 TV stations and 14 AM and 2 FM radio broadcast stations. Since establishing a government Internet service provider (ISP) in 1997 (the Syrian Telecommunications Establishment), Syria has been opening to the Internet, and Internet and e-mail access, although still limited, are growing. Two state-owned ISPs now exist, but subscriptions are restricted to state institutions, public-sector companies, and the offices of selected professionals (such as doctors, lawyers, and journalists). With high installation, subscription, and hourly access fees, the costs are prohibitive. Syria has one of the lowest Internet penetration rates in the region, with only 250,000 subscribers in the early 2000s. However, the number of users may be much higher than the number of subscribers, given the recent proliferation of Internet cafés in the main cities and the fact that some Syrians are connected to the Internet via ISPs in neighboring countries. With the eventual advent of privately owned ISPs, Internet access rates should increase, thus meeting one of the goals of President Assad’s modernization campaign. Additionally, he would like to raise the number of personal computers in the country, currently estimated to number only one computer per 56 people.