ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Syrian interim government plans to expand trade with neighboring Iraq, said a senior Syrian official on Monday, a day after Syria started importing cement from Iraq.
Iraqi border ports authority announced on Sunday the first shipment of Iraqi cement to Syria via the al-Waleed-Tanf crossing.
Director of Public Relations at Syria's General Authority for Land and Sea Ports, Mazen Alloush, confirmed the shipment to the Syrian state-owned al-Ikhbariya TV on Monday.
"The pace of shipments is expected to increase progressively based on the evaluation results during the initial operational phase," Alloush said.
He added that there are plans to broaden trade with Iraq to cover construction materials and other products, aiming to boost economic integration between the two countries and create wider commercial opportunities in the next phase.