People stand beneath a trading board displaying the latest numbers at the Damascus Secutiries Exchange (DSE) as Syria's stock market opens the Ya'fur area near Damascus. AFP
Trading on the Damascus Securities Exchange halted as a lightning offensive toppled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad on December 8.
Syria's new authorities are seeking to create an attractive environment for foreign investment and launch the country's economic recovery after more than a decade of devastating conflict.
The economy minister told AFP he expected investment in the country to double in the coming months.
Fourteen of 28 listed companies resumed activities on Monday, with the exchange's board of directors Fadi Jleilati calling the reopening a key step "on the path of beginning economic recovery".
The exchange reopened in a new headquarters in the town of Yafour, near Damascus.
Jleilati said the bourse faced many challenges, including integrating with global financial markets.
Finance Minister Mohammed Barnieh said the reopening was "a reassuring message that economic activity is returning, and the Damascus exchange will be an essential part of the economic and financial nerve activity".
On the sidelines of the opening, Economy Minister Mohammed Nidal al-Shaar told AFP that "investments and capital have begun to flow to Syria, and we expect that at the end of this summer their volume will have doubled".
He said Syria's economic environment is almost ready for investment, whether domestically, from the Arab world or the broader international community.
The priority in the coming period is "to break with the mentality of the ousted regime", Shaar added.
He said the new authorities were seeking to improve people's lives by "creating economic opportunities and attracting foreign and local capital so that everyone can participate in Syria's economic and development activity".
He expressed the authorities' keenness on building a "competitive economy where the state facilitates the production process".
The authorities are seeking to boost living standards in a country where more than 90 percent of people live in poverty and a quarter are unemployed.
Last month, the United States and the European Union lifted economic sanctions on Syria, allowing the government and private sector to reconnect with regional and international financial institutions after years of isolation.
Authorities hope the move will help attract foreign investment, including in the energy sector.
Last week, Syria signed a $7 billion energy deal with a consortium of Qatari, Turkish and US companies.
Also last month, Damascus said it signed a memorandum of understanding with a Chinese company to invest in free zones for 20 years.
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