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Where are Syrian youth heading?
The young are more impressed by a leader who could attract investment, create jobs and build a success story for his country
- By Sami Moubayed, Special to Gulf News
- Published: 23:54 March 20, 2008
When President Bashar Al Assad came to power at the age of 34 in 2000, many young Syrians were optimistic that somebody their age was now in charge and would cater to their numerous grievances. Syria after all has a youthful population with 5 million people between the age of 7 and 18. Over 60 per cent are below the age of 25. They wanted better education, with a strong emphasis on foreign languages, and the opportunity to find respectable well-paying jobs in Syria. They wanted banking services that enabled them to buy a house, own a car, and settle down into family life. They wanted to lift, or curb, the compulsory military draft that prevented them from professional development for two years and a half, and often, caused many of them to evade service by seeking employment in the Gulf.
At first glance, many of that has indeed taken place. Economic growth rate has jumped from 2.6 per cent for 2003 (when GDP had reached $20 billion) to 5.6 per cent in 2006, showing that the Syrian economy was doing well. Banks have opened in Syria and they are now financing up to 70 per cent-100 per cent house and car loans. Thanks to a more encouraging investment climate, international firms and GSM operators have started operation in the Syrian market, paying wages that were previously unheard of in the private sector, reaching up to $3,000 at a senior managerial level. Additionally, salaries in the public sector have been raised by almost 80 per cent since 2000. On the other hand, compulsory military service has been reduced to only two years, and over-the-table financial exemption is easier to obtain then ever before. Private universities have opened, offering courses in English and accredited degrees in business administration, banking, finance, and international relations. Also young Syrians have more attractive ways to spend their money, on previously unheard of brands such as Gucci, Prada, and Burberry, at state-of-the art nightclubs, and modern shopping malls.
But can young Syrians actually afford the more extravagant lifestyle? Or is seeing too much and not being able to afford it is a double-edged sword that leads to a deep sense of deprivation and eventually, robbery or other illegal conduct?
A closer look, shows that many of the problems that existed in 2000 are still around in 2008. According to Abdullah Dardari, the Deputy Prime Minister, unemployment during the age of 16-24 remains high, over 18 per cent. Banks do not provide loan services for people without sufficient tangible collateral. Apart from consumer loans, which are partly used for informal business purposes, micro-credits do not exist in the Syrian banking system. If the status quo continues, where Syrian banks target upper and middle income individuals, and large business, the situation is not expected to change. Salaries have improved but they are still nowhere to match the lucrative offers found in the UAE or Qatar. Private universities have opened but they are too expensive for grassroot Syrians (around $3,000 per semester). That has not reduced the burden on Damascus University, which is still way overcrowded, with 180,000 students, and 20,000 being admitted on an annual basis. Military service, although down by six months, remains very burdensome since anybody drafted into the army cannot travel or work freely during his military tenure.
Changing reality
Ambitious young Syrians, however, insisted on changing reality of their compatriots and co-founded a variety of NGOs since 2000, all aimed at improving the quality of life of young Syrians. The most successful project to date, however, has been the Syrian Young Entrepreneurs Association (SYEA). Its objective was to help young Syrians "become job maker not job seekers" and encourage them to start their own businesses. Before SYEA, most young Syrians aspired either for a job in the public sector, or the chance to pack up their belongings and immigrate to the Gulf. SYEA tried to change that by helping ambitious people with potential prepare to become entrepreneurs by obtaining financing, and marketing projects to people willing to invest in them. One project called SYEA Ventures, provides young applicants with up to 1 million Syrian Pounds ($20,000) to implement their projects, taking into account that banks would not be taking risks by providing entrepreneurs with cash if they do not have collateral. Additionally, SYEA is acting as a guarantor, offering collateral for young entrepreneurs applying to get a bank loan to start their own businesses.
An indicator of where Syrian youth are heading can be found in a survey I recently administered to my students at one of the new universities in Syria. I asked them to name their favourite former non-Syrian, Arab leader. Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan of the UAE came in first, with 54 per cent. The favourite non-Arab leader was Mahatir Mohammad, who is to Malaysia what Zayed is to the UAE. He got 36 per cent. Lagging way behind were revolutionary leaders such as Jamal Abdul Nasser and Yasser Arafat.
These young Syrians were more impressed by a leader who could attract investment, create jobs and build a success story for his country from scratch, such as Malaysia and the UAE, than one who preached revolutionary socialism and promised to defeat the State of Israel.
Respondents were then asked to think hard and come up with a list of people they thought would qualify as inspirational figures, people who they respected and looked up to. The list ranged from Hasan Nasrallah, Che Guevara and Fidel Castro to Amr Khalid, Saladin and Omar Bin Al Khattab. Somewhere in between came people such as Winston Churchill, Mahatma Ghandhi and Karl Marx.
They did not write down the name of a single artist, writer, poet or woman figure. Not surprisingly, they also did not mention a single American icon, not even an entertainment or sports celebrity. Bill Gates got votes with flying colours, and so did Steve Jobs, the Syrian-born Silicon Valley entrepreneur, co-founder and CEO of Apple.
Sami Moubayed is a Syrian political analyst.
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