BOMACO, established in the United Kingdom by the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye (TOBB), the Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Development (ICCD) and Gümrük ve Turizm İşletmeleri (GTİ), has signed an agreement to build an integrated free zone and dry port in Syria's Idlib. The protocol was signed at the Idlib Governorate building by BOMACO CEO Saruhan Enver Balaban and the Director General of Idlib Governorate Ahmed Al-Dhamin; Idlib Governor Mohammed Abdulrahman and Hatay Deputy Governor Alper Arın Yılmaz attended the ceremony.
According to Syrian state news agency SANA, the project will co-locate an integrated free zone and a dry port on the same site. A statement on the Idlib Governorate's Telegram channel said the free zone aims to become a major hub for cross-border trade and logistics infrastructure; the project is designed to lift regional economic activity, attract direct investment, create jobs and accelerate trade flows between Türkiye and Syria.
Initial talks between the parties began the previous month, when the head of Syria's Land and Sea Ports and Customs Administration, Kuteybe Bedavi, discussed investment cooperation and free-zone infrastructure development opportunities with BOMACO. According to the company, BOMACO focuses on developing border gates, customs infrastructure and logistics facilities, particularly through the BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) model and other public-private partnership formats.
Because the Idlib corridor is connected to Türkiye only through Hatay's land border gates, the integrated free zone and dry port will provide bonded transit capacity and RoRo-road combined handling capacity routed through Hatay. Seen as a strategic infrastructure play in Türkiye's drive to position for Syria's reconstruction market, the project also targets the consolidation of border-crossing times, customs throughput and warehouse-handling operations into a single hub on the supply-chain side.
Key Takeaways:
1. BOMACO — set up in the UK by TOBB, the Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Development and Gümrük ve Turizm İşletmeleri — will build an integrated free zone and dry port in Syria's Idlib region.
2. The protocol was signed at the Idlib Governorate building by BOMACO CEO Saruhan Enver Balaban and Director General Ahmed Al-Dhamin, with Idlib Governor Mohammed Abdulrahman and Hatay Deputy Governor Alper Arın Yılmaz in attendance.
3. According to Syrian state news agency SANA, the integrated free zone and dry port will be co-located on the same site, targeting regional economic activity, foreign investment and job creation.
4. Initial talks were held last month with Kuteybe Bedavi, head of Syria's Land and Sea Ports and Customs Administration; BOMACO focuses on border infrastructure development through Build-Operate-Transfer and other PPP models.
5. As the Idlib corridor is the only route connected to Türkiye via the Hatay border gates, the planned facility will consolidate customs, warehouse and handling capacity into a single hub for Türkiye-Syria border trade and logistics.
