HAVANA, (ST)- The Syrian delegation participating in the 37^th Havana International Fair last night held meetings with Cuban economic officials with the purpose of boosting economic ties between the two countries.

During his meeting with the Syrian delegation, President the Cuban Chamber of Commerce Orlando Hernandez Guillen said he was pleased over Syria's participation in this important economic fair, affirming that the Syria's presence in this event is clear evidence  that Syria has started economic recovery following years of brutal terrorist war.

Public banks will allow the employees of the State who have joined the reserve service to obtain grants and loans of different amounts.

The Commercial Bank of Syria grants the military reservists who are working in the state a personal loan of 2 million Syrian pounds maximum for a period of 5 years with a guarantee of two sponsors at an interest rate of 12.5 percent annually.

Since the beginning of the season, the quantities of citrus fruit marketed in Lattakia province has reached 33045 tons, according to the data of the Directorate of Agriculture.

Director of Agriculture Munther Kheir Bek explained in a statement to SANA correspondent that the prices of citrus fruit during this season are good compared to their prices during the previous seasons, pointing out that inflation has still not hit hard the citrus fruit market.

Despite economic sanctions imposed on Syria, agricultural products continued to enter the most important global markets. Unchallenged, Syrian fruit products topped markets of the Gulf countries, Russia, Egypt and Jordan; while Syrian olive oil reached European and American countries.

In a statement to SANA, Eng. Omar Al-Shalet, President of the Damascus Chamber of Agriculture, pointed out to the importance of launching a program of quality and reliability of agricultural products granted by international companies specialized in the field of product quality, from sorting, packaging, marketing to exporting; which will open new perspective in front of the Syrian agricultural product to reach new important markets, as well as grant an added value to Syrian agricultural products that would mirror positively on the farmer.

The Foreign companies participating in the SyrianInternational Petroleum and Mineral Resources Exhibition (Syrpetro) are looking forward to play a pivotal role in contributing to the development of the petroleum industry and reconstruction of oil installations damaged by the unjust terrorist war on Syria.

In a meeting with SANA, Eng. Mohammad Al-Jaafari, representative of the Iranian PGPAC Group, said that the group seeks to cooperate with the concerned authorities in Syria in the development and reconstruction of factories and refineries, as well as helping Syrian businessmen and traders to meet their needs. Al-Jaafari expected that the next phase will witness economic and investment activity in this field.