BANGKOK — Syria and the World Bank announced on Sunday that they have agreed to set up a fund to carry donor money into the country’s reconstruction, but the joint statement, as reported by TASS and The National, puts no figure on how much that money will be. The Syria Recovery and Reconstruction Trust Fund, known as START, is meant to provide concessional financing, investment guarantees and technical assistance.
The agreement follows Syria’s attendance at the International Monetary Fund and World Bank annual meetings in Bangkok, the latest gatherings Syrian officials have joined since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s rule in December 2024, according to The National. A delegation of about 50 US companies visited Syria last month, the same report said, weeks after Washington took Syria off its state sponsors of terrorism list.
The World Bank will manage the fund jointly with donors and development partners, following priorities set by the Syrian authorities, TASS reported, citing the joint statement as published by Syria’s state news agency SANA. Finance Minister Yisr Barnieh said the agreement opens a new phase of cooperation with international partners. Ousmane Dione, the bank’s vice president for the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan, said the bank looks forward to working with all partners. Partners in the United States, Europe and the Middle East expressed support, The National reported, but the statement did not name them.
The scale of the need is large and poorly measured. The World Bank said in October 2025 that rebuilding Syria’s damaged physical assets would cost a best estimate of $216 billion, inside a range of $140 billion to $345 billion, and that its findings were “subject to significant uncertainty.” The bank described the figure as nearly ten times Syria’s projected 2024 gross domestic product. It came from what the bank called a rapid nationwide assessment of physical assets.
Nor is the idea of a fund new. After a delegation led by Dione visited Damascus in November 2025, the bank said its approach to Syria included helping the government establish a Multi-Donor Trust Fund and fostering private sector investment.
The money side is thinner. Barnieh held discussions in Bangkok with Qatar’s finance minister, Ali Al Kuwari, on supporting recovery and development work, and Norway expressed interest in contributing to the fund, The National reported, citing SANA. Those are statements of interest rather than pledges, and the report attaches no amount to either.
The accounts of the joint statement that TEH has read do not say how large START is meant to be, who will make the first contribution, or when it will begin issuing financing or guarantees.
