Syrian officials and international partners are seeking fresh financing for “Weaving Hope“, a 5 million euro project meant to revive the country’s battered textile and garment industry, after a review meeting at the Italian Embassy in Damascus.
The meeting, held last week, brought together representatives of Syria’s Ministry of Economy, the Italian Embassy, the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), according to Kohan Textile Journal.
Italy has contributed about 1.7 million euros and the ILO has allocated roughly 700,000 euros from its own resources, the journal reported. On those figures alone, about 2.6 million euros of the budget remains unaccounted for, though the report does not say whether UNIDO or other donors will cover part of it.
Participants discussed closer coordination among government bodies, industrial chambers, vocational training institutions and international organisations. The initiative targets export development, employment and competitiveness, with a geographic focus on industrial zones in Damascus and Aleppo, the country’s two main textile production centres.
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Weaving Hope is funded by the Italian government and run jointly by the ILO and UNIDO, according to the ILO, whose project record lists an April 2025 start date. The ILO said in early September that it was working with the ministries of Social Affairs and Labour and of Economy and Industry, industrial chambers and the General Federation of Trade Unions to help manufacturers and workers rebuild the sector’s capacity to compete.
The funding push comes as Damascus tries to project momentum. More than 300 companies took part in July’s NASTEX 2026 exhibition in the capital, billed as the country’s largest textile fair. Economy and Industry Minister Nidal al-Shaar said cotton output could reach 300,000 to 400,000 tonnes a year if investment arrives and idle plants restart, Euronews reported.
Significant obstacles remain. A UNDP policy note published on Sept. 9 found recovery uneven across the value chain, with garment manufacturing further advanced than upstream stages. Enab Baladi reported in August that duties on textile raw materials reach about $1.10 per kilogram, adding to pressure on producers.
The ILO has also commissioned a position paper on sanctions-related constraints and trade barriers, alongside a mid-term evaluation of the project, according to procurement notices published this year.
Public-sector textile exports were valued at about $194.8 million in 2010, according to figures cited by Enab Baladi, a benchmark that shows how far the industry must travel.