Syria’s Investment Authority Takes Sole Charge of Real Estate Investment: What Next?

By: Louay Shnoudi

Law 2 of 2023 brought all real estate projects under Investment Law 18 of 2021, terminating the General Commission for Real Estate Development and Investment and transferring its operations to the Syrian Investment Authority (SIA). On July 1, 2026, the SIA’s Circular No. 283 reaffirmed this role. It also required real estate developers to secure approvals before launching projects or advertising off-plan sales. This creates an urgent need to clarify the SIA’s remit with the Ministry of Public Works and Housing, urban planning authorities, and property registries.

The SIA regulates the sector, licenses developers, and grants investment permits. The ministry retains its role in public housing programs, housing cooperatives, and urban planning and studies through affiliated bodies. The transfer does not encompass all ministerial functions or waive required technical approvals for each project. The Investment Law conditions real estate investment licenses on approvals from relevant authorities, including the ministry.

The SIA’s expanded role brings real estate development regulation and investor services under a single investment framework. It links project licensing to the benefits and facilitation measures granted by the law and reduces overlap by centralizing approvals.

These benefits require better coordination among the SIA, the ministry, administrative units, and other relevant bodies. An accessible investor guide may also be needed, detailing required approvals, responsible authorities, and the sequence for obtaining them.

Obstacles arise at the overlap between investment licensing, planning and building approvals, and sectoral oversight. Each authority retains its statutory powers, and SIA licenses depend on the competent authorities’ approvals. The challenge is linking processes and defining responsibilities. Authorization to establish an entity may be mistaken for permission to launch its project; an investment license may be seen as a substitute for sectoral and urban planning requirements.

Housing cooperatives illustrate this: they provide homes to members at cost under a dedicated legal framework and the ministry’s supervision. If their activities constitute investment projects under the Investment Law, SIA licensing requirements would then apply. Regulating the relationship between the SIA and the ministry requires defining the applicable framework and each institution’s oversight boundaries for real estate projects, respecting subscribers’ rights and restrictions on the use of cooperative funds, and preventing cooperatives from serving as a cover for commercial activities.

Success will depend on the SIA’s ability to provide a clearer, more stable legal framework through precise implementing regulations, effective coordination with public bodies, and a central database of approved projects, thereby strengthening transparency and legal certainty. This would create a predictable investment environment, strengthen rights protection, support urban development, and encourage long-term investment.