UAE Extends Government Modernization Model To Syria As Trade Jumps

The UAE is extending its government-modernization playbook to Syria through an executive leadership program that pairs public-sector training with a wider revival in bilateral trade, Economy Middle East reported.

The Syrian Government Executive Leadership Program brings participants to the UAE for a knowledge visit built around government practices and practical projects tied to administrative challenges.

The UAE Government Experience Exchange initiative frames the program as a way to build public-sector capabilities, strengthen institutional transformation and prepare Syrian officials for more complex government requirements.

The training began on August 31 and runs across four modules over seven days.

Arabic live sessions cover strategic leadership, government leadership, institutional transformation, public-policy design, design thinking for the public sector, government innovation and future-governance foresight.

Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University positions the Syria program as a specialized track for government and executive leaders working in rapidly changing conditions.

The operating emphasis is implementation rather than a ceremonial visit.

Participants are expected to translate design-thinking, policy and innovation tools into practical government applications, including more user-centered services, evidence-based policy and strategic plans that can support agile institutions.

The Government Experience Exchange Office said the visiting group is also working on projects around real challenges, connecting the leadership curriculum to changes that Syrian institutions may need to execute.

The Syria initiative sits inside a larger UAE knowledge-export model.

A UAE government report published in 2024 recorded more than 35 international partnerships under the Government Experience Exchange Programme, more than 30 million training hours, over 3.2 million people trained, 367 initiatives and more than 2,400 interactive workshops.

The program, established in 2018, spans more than 100 workstreams covering modernization projects, capacity programs, planning disciplines, excellence frameworks and service-improvement work.

Digital government is part of the Syria context.

In February, Syrian Communications and Information Technology Minister Abdulsalam Haykal described the UAE as a potential partner for Syria’s digital transformation, pointing to telecommunications infrastructure and advanced government digital services.

Several meetings had already covered cooperation and investment opportunities in telecom and digital transformation, linking the latest executive program to Syria’s broader push to improve services for citizens.

Commercial engagement is moving at the same time.

In May, UAE Minister of Foreign Trade Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi led a delegation of more than 140 officials, private-sector leaders and company representatives to Damascus.

The first UAE-Syria Business Forum examined investment opportunities and longer-term partnerships across trade, investment, infrastructure, energy, technology, agriculture and transport.

A separate August meeting between UAE Minister of Economy and Tourism Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri and Syrian Economy and Industry Minister Mohammad Nidal Al Shaar widened the agenda toward newer economic sectors, visitor industries, infrastructure, supply-chain services, startup activity and higher-value manufacturing.

Bin Touq said the UAE intended to keep investing in economic and development projects in Syria, while Al Shaar said Syria was moving into a new phase of economic openness.

That policy sequence gives the leadership program a larger economic setting.

Non-oil trade between the UAE and Syria reached about $1.4 billion in 2025, up 132.4 percent from the previous year, turning administrative modernization, digital cooperation and private-sector engagement into parallel tracks in a renewed bilateral relationship.