Syria: Operating a Business

Legal Forms of Companies

Private Limited Company: Number of partners: Minimum of two partners.
Capital (max/min): No minimum capital required.
Shareholders and liability: Liability is limited to the amount contributed.
Public Limited Company: Number of partners: One or more shareholders.
Capital (max/min): SYP 30,000
Shareholders and liability: Liability is limited to the amount contributed.
Limited Partnership: Number of partners: In addition of general partners there is one or more limited partners.
Capital (max/min): No minimum capital required.
Shareholders and liability: Liability is limited for sleeping partners and unlimited for active partners.
Joint stock limited partnership: Number of partners: In addition of general partners there is one or more limited partners.
Capital (max/min): No minimum capital required.
Shareholders and liability: Liability is limited for some partners and unlimited for others.
General Partnership: Number of partners: Minimum 2 partners.
Capital (max/min): No minimum capital required.
Shareholders and liability: Partners' liability is indefinite and joint.

Setting Up a Company	Syria	Middle East & North Africa
Procedures (number)	7.00	6.28
Time (days)	15.50	19.51

Source: The World Bank - Doing Business, Latest data available.

The Competent Organisation: Foreign companies have to be registered with the Ministry of Economy and Trade.
For Further Information: Consult Doing Business Website, to know about procedures to start a Business in Syria.
Syria Investment Agency

Dun & Bradstreet - Worldwide directory with financial information on businesses

Bankruptcy Laws: Regulations concerning the procedures in case of bankruptcy do not have but a light impact on the pre-existing principles and they do not make a distinction between civil and commercial affairs. The laws regarding the bankruptcy of a company are tremendously inefficient and personal connections are able to influence on the verdicts pronounced for companies that find themselves in a bankruptcy situation.

	2018	2019	2020
Labour Force	5,147,953	5,224,030	5,165,789

Working Rest Day: They do not work on Fridays.
Retirement Age: 60 in the civil service.
Informal Labour Market: The informal work sector is very significant in Syria. It represents more than 40% of the active population. Most of the persons employed in the informal sector work in agriculture, building, construction (24%) and commerce (14%).

Minimum Wage: SYP 37,600 per month for civil servants (source: Enab Baladi, 2020)
Average Wage: Gross average monthly wage for civil servants: SYP 149,000 (source: Enab Baladi, 2020)
Other Forms of Pay
Pay For Overtime: In certain cases, the employer can ask the employee to work extra hours. The overtime hours cannot exceed 12 hours of continuous work. For more information consult the site ILO (International Labor Organization).
Pay For Night Hours: Consult the Law texts in relation to the organization of night jobs. There is one law in particular regarding night jobs for women.

Contributions: Contributions Paid By the Employer: 17.1% of payroll costs, divided as follows: 14% to cover old age, disability and death benefits; 3% to the work injury benefits scheme; and 0.1% to a lump-sum disability benefits fund.
Contributions Paid By the Employee: 7% of income.

Type of Contract: The law is very specific and precise regarding the contracts of employment. The sources of labor legislation in the Syrian Arab Republic are law n°91 of April 5, 1959 and legislative decree n°49 of July 3, 1962. The contract must be drawn up in Arabic with a duplicate, with a copy for each party (art. 43, LC). The trial period is stated in the contract, but it cannot exceed 3 months (art. 44, LC). A contract of employment can be established for a short term period or for an unspecified period of time. If it is agreed for a short term period and both parties continue to comply with it after the expiration date, it must be renewed for an indefinite period of time (art. 71, LC).

Retirement: The decrees No. 349 and No. 120 of 1961 regulate pensions and retirement.
Dismissals: Dismissals are difficult and costly. An employer cannot break a contract without a previous notice and without compensations, unless the employee has filled in one of the conditions stipulated in the article 76 of the labor code.
For more information, consult the site of the ILO (International Labor Organization).
Other Possible Methods: To be able to resign from their jobs, the employees of the public sector are required to obtain a prior authorization. This procedure is usually difficult and takes a long time.
Labour Laws: All the textes about Labor Law
Consult Doing Business Website, to obtain a summary of the labor regulations that apply to local entreprises.

Social Dialogue and Involvement of Social Partners: The General Federation of Trade Unions (GFTU) is the organization which represents workers in Syria. Since 1968, a decree has obliged all the country's trade unions to belong to the GFTU. This organization is strictly controlled by the ruling Baath party. It coordinates most aspects of union activity and determines which sectors or activities may create a union or a federation. As a consequence, union action is minimal and strikes are very rare.
Unionisation Rate: The unionization rate in Syria is 100 %. Belonging to a trade union is mandatory in order to be employed.
Regulation Bodies: Syrian Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor.

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