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The leaders’ summit of the group is scheduled for June 15–17 in France.
Syria will take part in the G7 summit in France next month as a guest country. Damascus will be represented by Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, Reuters reports, citing sources.
The invitation for Sharaa to attend the summit, which will take place in Évian-les-Bains in southeastern France, was delivered through Syria’s finance minister, who earlier this week participated in G7 financial talks in Paris. This will mark Syria’s first participation in a G7 leaders’ summit since the group was founded in 1975.
According to a Reuters source, Syria’s participation in the talks is likely to focus on the country’s role as a “potential strategic hub for supply chains” following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Shipping through the strait has largely halted since the start of the US–Israel war with Iran in late February, shaking the global economy.
Syria, which after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime began moving closer to the West, is seeking to rebuild its economy devastated by years of civil war and sanctions. Although most sanctions have already been eased, attracting foreign investment and restoring normal banking relations has proven slower and more difficult than many officials had hoped.