Syria’s state employees will receive financial assistance from Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the Saudi foreign minister said

Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud, the foreign minister of Saudi Arabia, announced on Saturday that the kingdom and Qatar will work together to provide financial assistance to government workers in Syria.

Bin Farhan stated, “The kingdom will provide with Qatar joint financial support to state employees in Syria,” while holding a press conference in Damascus alongside his Syrian colleague Asaad al-Shibani.

He gave no information about how much money Riyadh and Doha will be contributing. It does, however, resemble a similar action taken by Qatar to finance Syria’s government.

The mutual financial support would be provided over a three-month period, according to a joint statement released by Saudi Arabia and Qatar on Saturday.

It stated that the action followed Saudi Arabia and Qatar’s April payment to the World Bank to repay Syria’s unpaid debts of about $15 million.

A few weeks prior to the Saudi foreign minister’s visit, the United States unexpectedly announced that it was easing sanctions on Syria’s Islamist-led government, which toppled previous leader Bashar al-Assad in December.

During his recent trip to the Middle East, U.S. President Donald Trump announced the decision, claiming it was taken at the request of Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, whose nation was a leading supporter of the sanctions’ removal.

Additionally, the European Union has removed its economic sanctions against Syria.

Referring to his nation’s contribution to the lifting of economic sanctions on Syria, Bin Farhan stated that Saudi Arabia would remain a key supporter of Syria as it works toward economic recovery and restoration.

He stated that he went there to “hold talks (with the Syrian side) to bolster aspects of cooperation in various fields” with a high-level economic delegation from the kingdom.

In the days that followed, Saudi businesspeople would travel to Syria on multiple occasions to talk about investments in infrastructure, agriculture, energy, and other areas, he added.

The Syrian government is working to improve relations with Arab and Western leaders after Assad was overthrown by Ahmed al-Sharaa’s Sunni Islamist organization, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.

After economic sanctions are lifted, it believes that a flood of aid and investments from Gulf neighbors will aid in the reconstruction of a war-torn state.

According to a source in the Syrian president’s office, the Syrian state news agency SANA said that Syria’s Sharaa will travel to Kuwait on Sunday after being invited by Kuwait’s Emir Sheikh Meshal al-Ahmad al-Sabah.

According to the source, during his first formal visit to Kuwait, Sharaa would talk about cooperative efforts in a number of political and economic areas.