United Arab Emirates businesses are currently looking at opportunities in Syria, a country that has a small number of hypermarket chains, according to Business Intelligence Middle East.

Syria's retail sector is reportedly attracting interest from major players and investors in the Gulf region as the country begins to open up its economy.

The Syrian government has liberalised imports, with numerous foreign goods being removed from a list of banned products. Developers are optimistic that such a move will lead to the expansion of the retail infrastructure as more imported brands become available.

The UAE's Al Futtaim Group and Emaar, as well as the Saudi Binladin Group, are among those with plans to open large shopping malls in the country, it was reported.

“Several mega-malls and hypermarkets are in the pipeline,' said Antoine Addoumieh, executive manager of the Aleppo-based Addoumieh Group.

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