Alwaght- Syria would chair the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) for one year, starting in 2022, taking the place of the current chair, Saudi Arabia, in an apparent U-turn on hostile policies of Arab regimes that once supported terrorist and militant groups fighting Damascus.
Oil ministers from OAPEC also unanimously announced that Damascus would host the Arab Energy Conference in 2024.
Syria was expelled from the Arab League at the start of the 2011 foreign-backed crisis, and some Arab regime backed terrorists to oust the Syrian Government.
Now that Syria, backed by Iran-led resistance forces and Russia has managed to defeat militants, Arab regimes are recalibrating their policy towards Damascus.
Jordan's king held a much-publicised phone call with his counterpart in Damascus in October and has lobbied for sanctions relief in Washington so his fragile economy can resume trade with Syria.
The UAE is also reaching out. Earlier this summer the two country's resumed direct flights and Syria had a prominent booth at the 2020 Dubai Expo. Emirati businessmen have also visited Damascus to attend trade fairs.
A trip by the UAE's top diplomat to Syria in November was seen as a culmination of these efforts. Yet, while the two countries discussed potential investments in reconstruction , the UAE appears to be proceeding slowly.
The high-profile visit produced just one agreement for a group of undisclosed Emirati companies to back a solar energy plant in the Syrian countryside.
