REVISES DONATION AMOUNT, ADDS DETAILS
By Tariq Abdulaziz and Rania Abu Shamala
ISTANBUL (AA) - Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa launched the Syrian Development Fund on Thursday, saying it will serve as a key tool for rebuilding the country.
The announcement came during the fund’s inauguration ceremony at the Damascus Citadel in the capital, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA).
“We meet today to announce the launch of the Syrian Development Fund, through which we invite you to spend your generous funds to rebuild what the deposed regime has destroyed and restore the land they have burned into a green prosperous State,” al-Sharaa said in his address.
“The ousted regime has destroyed our economy, plundered our money, destroyed our homes and displaced our people in camps and refugee places. We meet here today to heal the wounds of beloved Syria, rebuild it with the help of its people, and return the displaced and refugees to their land.”
Al-Sharaa added that the fund will be highly transparent and will disclose all money spent on strategic projects.
Minutes after the fund’s launch, donations surpassed $30 million, according to a SANA correspondent.
Later, state-run Alikhbariya TV said donations exceeded $60 million about an hour after the announcement.
Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s leader for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia in December 2024, ending the Ba'ath Party regime, which had been in power since 1963.
A new transitional administration led by al-Sharaa was formed in January.