Al Khayyat Family Expands Investments in Syria
Qatari food company Baladna has secured an agreement with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank Group, to finance the company’s first agricultural project in Syria, expected to be a dairy plant in Adra Industrial City, near Damascus.
The agreement was signed on April 18 at the World Bank’s headquarters in Washington, in the presence of Syrian Finance Minister Mohammed Yisr Barnieh, on the sidelines of the 2026 Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Barnieh attended meetings with the Central Bank of Syria Governor, Abdulkader Husrieh, between April 13 and 18.
Baladna Food Industries is a Qatari public shareholding company founded in 2014. It is one of Qatar’s largest producers of food, dairy products, and juices.
Syrian businessman Moutaz al-Khayyat chairs the company’s board, while his brother, Ramez al-Khayyat, serves as a delegated board member in the same company. Ramez al-Khayyat is also the chief executive of Qatar’s UCC Holding.
The brothers Ramez and Moutaz al-Khayyat also run Urbacon Holding, one of the companies in the International Companies Alliance, which signed an energy sector deal with the Syrian government worth up to $7 billion, alongside US-based Power International and the Turkish energy companies Kalyon Enerji and Cengiz Enerji.
Barnieh: Projects in Adra, Deir Ezzor, and Latakia
Barnieh said on his Facebook page that the cooperation agreement between IFC and Baladna is “a step we consider an important milestone on the path of supporting economic recovery and strengthening the role of the private sector in Syrian development.”
The minister welcomed Baladna’s plans in Syria, foremost among them the dairy plant project in Adra Industrial City, along with several agricultural projects and related industries planned in Deir Ezzor, eastern Syria, the Syrian Jazira region in northeastern Syria, and Latakia, which are still under study.
He said the step could produce practical results by expanding IFC operations in Syria to support the private sector in ways that benefit the Syrian economy and local communities in different areas.
Barnieh: IFC Supports Responsible Financing in Syria
IFC is a member of the World Bank Group and is considered the world’s largest development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets.
Barnieh said the step is especially important because IFC, as the World Bank Group’s private sector financing arm, is not only a technical and advisory partner, but also one capable of helping prepare bankable investment opportunities and attract capital to Syria’s highest-priority sectors, including agriculture and food security.
The minister added that the Syrian government is awaiting, with great interest, the activation of the institution’s advisory and financing tools in Syria to support responsible financing that serves job creation, production, rural development, and food security.
He said the partnership is central to supporting livelihoods and rebuilding production value chains, and that the proposed project depends on employing a large number of workers in rural areas.
Baladna’s Projects in Syria
Baladna has four project plans, some of which are still at the feasibility-study stage:
- establishing a dairy manufacturing plant near Damascus, in Adra Industrial City, with a foundation stone to be laid in May 2026
- Agricultural projects under feasibility study in Deir Ezzor and Latakia
- An integrated cotton project
- An integrated sugar beet cultivation and processing project
In the Banking Sector Too
Qatar’s Estithmar Holding Group is preparing to acquire Syria’s Shahba Bank, in addition to a 30% stake in Syria International Islamic Bank, which would make it the first foreign banking acquisition in Syria since the fall of the former Assad regime, according to a Reuters report published in January and citing four informed sources.
Three of those sources said Estithmar Holding, part of Doha-based Power International Holding, would acquire a 60% majority stake in Shahba Bank after buying shares from Banque Bemo Saudi Fransi and National Credit Bank.
A source familiar with Shahba Bank’s direction told Reuters that the bank has a very ambitious plan centered on increasing capital and easing communication with correspondent banks.
Another source said another 30% of Syria International Islamic Bank shares are already owned by Qatari partners. Reuters reported that Banque Bemo, National Credit Bank, and Syria International Islamic Bank had not responded to requests for comment and that the acquisitions are still subject to regulatory approval.
Central Bank of Syria Governor Abdulkader Husrieh told Reuters he could not comment because the matters remain confidential. He added that the central bank welcomes any potential restructuring initiatives or market-driven initiatives that would strengthen the banking sector’s stability, resilience, and sound governance, provided they fully comply with applicable laws and regulations.
Reuters said the acquisitions would add to a growing portfolio of projects and investments held by the al-Khayyat family, which already has contracts for power generation projects in Syria and for the redevelopment and expansion of Damascus airport. The sources said National Credit Bank and Banque Bemo would use the proceeds from selling their stakes in Shahba Bank to inject capital into the two banks, which were hurt by exposure to the financial crisis in neighboring Lebanon.
This move comes after US sanctions on Syria were lifted in late 2025, at a time when the Central Bank of Syria is trying to recapitalize a banking sector badly damaged by nearly 14 years of war and Western sanctions.
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