The Syrian General Authority for Land and Sea Ports signed an agreement with the French company CMA CGM at the People’s Palace in Damascus today, Thursday, May 1, in the presence of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
The director of the Latakia Port, Ahmed Ali Mustafa, stated to Enab Baladi that the previous contract between the French company and the former regime was halted, which had been renewed in November 2024, for managing the Latakia container station. The Syrian government has started since taking office to arrange a new contract with new details.
One of the key aspects of the new agreement, according to the port director’s statement, is that the duration of the contract is set for 30 years, during which €230 million will be invested, with the company injecting €30 million in the first year.
In the following four years, a new dock will be built at Latakia Port with international standard specifications, 1.5 kilometers long and 17 meters deep, with an investment value reaching €200 million.
The construction of this dock will allow the entry of large cargo ships and in large numbers that currently do not enter Latakia Port, and it will provide the necessary infrastructure and superstructure for its operation.
After the fifth year, the benefits of this investment will begin, with funds starting to flow through it over the next 25 years.
Economic researcher Manaf Quman commented on the agreement, stating that France has invested in a strategic economic artery in Syria, and that Latakia will regain its position after operating the port, becoming a strategic commercial and logistical hub in the Mediterranean and the region, entering into the fierce competition of the world’s ports. He believes that Latakia will open new horizons for economic recovery in Syria.
On February 5, the General Authority for Land and Sea Ports announced entering a new contract with the French company CMA CGM, which operates the container station at Latakia Port. The previous debts between the Syrian side and the French company were cleared, and a new contract was signed under new terms and mechanisms.
The company had renewed its contract with the former regime in October 2024 for a duration of 30 years, according to previous statements by the director of the Syrian program at the Syrian Observatory of Political and Economic Networks, Karam Shaar, to Enab Baladi.
At that time, it was expected that the company would renew its contract for five years.
The French company had also renewed its contract with the former regime in 2019 after the first contract ended in the same year, as the first contract from 2009 included conditions for renewal for five years with the consent of both parties.
CMA CGM signs a contract with the Syrian General Authority for Land and Sea Ports at the People’s Palace in Damascus – May 1, 2025 (Enab Baladi/Anas al-Khouli)
What is CMA CGM?
The company “CMA CGM” first appeared under the name “Compagnie Maritime d’Affrètement” in 1978, consisting of four employees and one ship, with only one shipping route between Beirut, Latakia, Livorno, and Marseille.
The company expanded over the following years and acquired public and private shipping companies across different continents, becoming the third-largest shipping giant globally.
The founder of the company, Jacques Saadé, is Franco-Lebanese, from a bourgeois family with a father from the coastal city of Latakia in western Syria and a Lebanese mother.
Saadé moved to Lebanon in 1970 due to nationalization decisions in Syria, and due to the civil war there, he moved to France.
Saadé passed away on June 24, 2018, at the age of 81, and his son Rodolphe became the company’s CEO in 2017.
Jacques and Rodolphe Saadé have established connections with politicians in France, according to an investigation by Radio France in September 2024, including Presidents François Hollande, Jacques Chirac, Nicolas Sarkozy, and Emmanuel Macron.
Jacques Saadé began his investment in Latakia after accompanying Sarkozy on his visit to Syria in 2008, while his son Rodolphe secured investments in the ports of Beirut and Tripoli after accompanying President Emmanuel Macron during his visit to Lebanon in August 2020, following the Beirut Port explosion.
The family’s investments in Syria have not gone beyond Latakia Port; however, in Lebanon, they have turned into a quasi-economic empire across various sectors, primarily in ports (Tripoli and Beirut).
Syria signs contract with French company for investment in Latakia Port Enab Baladi.
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