Lower Thirds:

0:02  Report Ahmad Kalaji
0:11 	Abdulsalam Haykal, Minister of Communications and Information Technology
0:31	Bahila Hijazi, Founder of Beti Betak
1:05	Bahila Hijazi, Founder of Beti Betak
2:15	Abdel Malek Al-Mouzayen, Co-founder BeeOrder
2:53	Abdel Malek Al-Mouzayen, Co-founder BeeOrder

Script: 

00:01 
Syria is trying to re-engage with the world. Sanctions are easing and the new government is promising change. Among the biggest ambitions? A digital future. 

00:11 ++SOT in Arabic | Abdulsalam Haykal, Minister of Communications and Information Technology++ 
“We want the world — especially the next generation — to see us as a driver of growth, connection, and innovation.”

00:20  
Now, a year after the fall of Assad, “digital” still comes with daily obstacles. Power cuts, poor connectivity, and a cash-based economy. 

00:31  ++SOT | Bahila Hijazi, Founder of Beti Betak ENG++
“There's something actually nobody is talking about, which is, like Syria has been operating for the 14 years in a bubble. So we were completely disconnected from everything outside. And people are extremely creative.”   

00:46 
Bahila Hijazi ((BA-he-la hi-JA-zi)) is one of the people who returned to Syria from Germany to establish her startup. 

00:52 
Beti Betak ((BEH-ti BE-tak)) is building what looks like a Syrian Airbnb, offering short stays in homes, apartments, villas, and hotels. 

01:02 
But for a project like this, how can payments be handled? 

01:05 ++SOT | Bahila Hijazi, Founder of Beti Betak ENG++
"What we did in Beti Betak, is that we had an external entity outside. We gather the money outside of Syria. So we have like a combination of cash, online, and we developed our own APIs as well."
 
01:25 
Unofficial estimates suggest Syria is still largely offline, with almost two thirds of the population not connected. And even for those who are, the internet can be painfully slow. 

01:36 
In a recent statement, the minister announced the first phase of “Ugarit 2,” a project linked to an undersea cable route via Cyprus that will increase Syria’s international internet capacity. 

01:48 
While the government talks infrastructure, startups make do with whatever works. Syria’s tech ecosystem didn’t grow like other countries.

01:59
BeeOrder is one of the few startups that managed to scale under Assad's regime, delivering groceries and meals in Damascus and beyond. 

02:09 
The co-founder told us that the Assad government was always harassing the business, trying to get a share.
 
02:15 
++SOT | Abdel Malek Al-Mouzayen, Co-founder BeeOrder ENG++   
"We were able somehow to cover our, let's call it numbers, an operation just to protect ourselves from them."

02:23 
Now the big question is money. With sanctions easing, foreign investment can return, and startups can finally scale beyond survival mode.  
02:33 
Countries like Saudi Arabia and Qatar are already pledging millions of dollars in investments (for Syria).

02:42 
But foreign investment doesn’t automatically mean scale. There’s the competition question: what happens if Syria opens to companies like Uber, Airbnb — or regional delivery giants? 

02:53 
++SOT | Abdel Malek Al-Mouzayen, Co-founder BeeOrder ENG++
"It's challenging for us having an open market, we never operated in this for the past 70 years."  
 
02:58  
So Syria’s tech industry is entering a new phase. It's less about whether startups can exist and more about whether they can grow.