Entrepreneurship policies in Syria

Access to finance remains one of the key problems for enterprises operating in Syria particularly for small and medium enterprises (SME's). In spite of the reforms initiated by the government and the Central Bank of Syria, the legal and regulatory environment remained relatively underdeveloped and the ranges of banking and financial services for the enterprise sector were limited.[6] Syria ranked 181st out of 183 economies worldwide in the ease of getting credit, putting the country in the bottom three. As of 2009, credit information services and credit guarantee schemes or credit bureau registry that could supported access to credit by reducing collateral requirements were not available in Syria.[2] Few microfinance facilities exist and most of these operate as pilot projects. Although the Commercial Bank of Syria (its largest state-owned bank) was officially charged in February 2009 with increasing loans for small business startups, a climate of corruption may deter many would-be entrepreneurs.[7]

• Syria enhanced access to credit by eliminating the minimum threshold for loans included in the database, which expanded the coverage of individuals and firms to 2.8% of the adult population.[1]

Enforcement of contracts in Syria requires 55 procedures, takes 872 days and costs 29.3% of claim to execute. The country ranked relatively low in this category at 176th according to the latest doing business report, placing the country in the bottom ten worldwide.

A summary of Doing Business report 2010 in the ease of closing business ranked Syria in 87th place. It evaluated the effectiveness of the insolvency regime in Syria along three dimensions: the average time (in years) to complete a bankruptcy proceeding, the average cost of such proceedings (as a percentage of the estate), and the recovery rate to creditors (expressed in cents on the dollar). For Syria, the time averages 4.1 years, and the cost is, on average, 9% of the estate. Creditors claim, on average, 29.3 cents on the dollar.

In Syria, taxes and fees exceed 20% of the property value. It started on 2004 when Tax forms were unified, In 2006, paying taxes made easier by reducing the rate to encourage foreign and domestic investments and increase tax collection. In the same year, the Tax Evasion Law and other laws that carried stricter enforcement measures, including imprisonment was implemented. It was further simplified in 2007. Syria ranked 105th in the ease of paying taxes worldwide.

In 2007-8 the United Nations Human Development Index (HDI) placed Syria 108 out of 177 countries, in its list of countries with medium human development, and 12 out of 20 Arab countries in the Arab Human Development Report ranking.[12]

Youth represent nearly 80 percent of the unemployed in Syria, the highest share among non-Gulf countries. Thus, unemployment in Syria is essentially a youth issue. The government is trying to reduce reliance on public sector jobs and to loosen regulatory controls on the private sector. Alissa[13]

The education system in Syria is divided into three main levels: school, college, and university. Schooling is divided into six years of compulsory primary, three years of lower secondary (preparatory), and three years of upper secondary education. In recent years, a new system has seen the primary and preparatory levels combined into ‘basic education’. Lower and upper secondary schools provide general (which prepares for university entrance) or vocational curricula. Colleges are open to all students who wish to continue their education. Obtaining a college degree requires two years of college education, after completing the secondary education. University students have to attend a minimum of four years of education before obtaining a university degree. In addition, postgraduate education is also available in Syria.[13]

Notes:

• n/a - not ranked
• Ease of Doing Business - ranked among 189 Economies
• GCI Index - ranked among 139 Economies
• Economic Freedom Score - 0 to 100, where 100 represents the maximum freedom
• Prosperity Index -The Prosperity Index assessed 110 countries, accounting for over 90 percent of the world’s population, and is based on 89 different variables, each of which has a demonstrated effect on economic growth or on personal wellbeing. The Index consists of eight sub-indexes, i.e. Economy, Entrepreneurship & Opportunity (E&O), Governance, Education, Health, Safety & Security, Personal Freedom and Social Capital.
• The ICT value falls on a scale of 0-10 and is calculated from three key indicators: number of telephone lines per thousand of the population, number of computers per thousand of the population, and number of internet users per thousand of the population. The top 10 per cent of states score in the range 9-10, the next highest 10 per cent of states score in the range 8-9 and so on.
• Innovation System Index - The index value falls on a scale of 0-10 and is calculated from three key indicators: Total royalty payments and receipts in US$ per person, number of patent applications granted by the US Patent and Trademark Office per million people, and the number of scientific and technical journal articles published per million people. The top 10 percent of states score in the range 9-10, the next highest 10 per cent of states score in the range 8-9 and so on.
• HDI - Calculated based on data from UNDESA (2009d), Barro and Lee (2010), UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2010a), World Bank (2010g) and IMF (2010a).
• Education and Human Resources Score - The index value falls on a scale of 0-10 and is calculated from three key indicators: adult literacy rate, secondary enrolment, and tertiary enrolment. The top 10 per cent of states score in the range 9-10, the next highest 10 per cent of states score in the range 8-9 and so on.
• Press Freedom Index- The lower the value of a state’s press freedom index, the better the situation for press freedom, ranked among 178 countries.