Construction

Turkish builders sense opportunity in Syria

December 10, 2024, 12:31 PM

Syrians living in Istanbul hold a picture of Turkey's President Erdoğan as they celebrate the fall of Syria's President Assad

3.2m Syrian refugees in Turkey
Construction share prices jump
Cement and steel stocks up

Turkey’s construction sector is hoping to build on the rubble of the collapsed Assad regime in Syria.

There are high expectations that Turkish companies will be in the running to win valuable contracts to replace damaged housing and infrastructure.

There were sharp rises in building shares on the Istanbul Stock Exchange on December 9, the first day of trading after the fall of Damascus.

Shares in construction major Enka İnşaat rose 4.4 percent in early trading, while stocks of some leading materials suppliers, such as cement companies Oyak Çimento and Cimsa, and steel producer Iskenderun Demir Çelik, performed even more strongly, gaining up to 10 percent.

Turkey is providing shelter for more than 3.2 million Syrian nationals who fled the 13 year-long civil war. While some of the costs of housing and supporting displaced Syrians have been borne by the European Union, most of the burden has been met by the Turkish state.

With Turkey’s own economy struggling with high inflation and austerity, the cost has become a contentious political issue. The potential return of the Syrian community to their homeland is being welcomed in Turkey, which has already funded some reconstruction work in opposition-held regions inside Syria to encourage displaced locals to return.

A spokesperson for cement producer Gaziantep Ytong Sanayii, located in the province of Gaziantep on the border with Syria, told AGBI that while it was too early for any orders to have been made, the outlook was hopeful.

“We foresee a positive boost for business,” she said. “With the rebuilding of Syria, we expect that demand shall come and business will improve.”

However, while saying the end of the conflict would provide opportunities for Turkish builders, Tahir Tellioğlu, the president of the Building Contractors Confederation, did sound a note of caution.

“Some of this optimism is based on the interpretation of the developments on the ground,” he told AGBI. “But, in my opinion, it is as yet too early to make assumptions, and one has to see whether clashes will resume or not.”

It is not just the construction industry that is hoping to build on the peace dividend in Syria, with other sectors also in line to benefit.

Before the outbreak of hostilities in 2011, Turkey was Syria’s largest single supplier of imports, a situation Ankara would welcome if resumed.