Syria's General Authority for Borders and Customs signed an agreement with French shipping and logistics group CMA CGM to operate two dry ports in the free zones of Adra and Aleppo, Syrian state news agency SANA reported on Tuesday.
The deal covers the management and operation of the dry ports to support logistics and trade. It coincided with the launch of a trial freight train linking Latakia port, Syria's principal maritime access point, to Adra after a 14-year halt due to the Syrian civil war.
The agreement follows a separate deal signed in May 2025 under which CMA CGM secured a 30-year contract to modernize and operate Latakia port. Chief Executive Rodolphe Saadé, a Franco-Lebanese of Syrian origin, has family roots in the country.
On May 11, the European Union restored the full application of its 1977 cooperation agreement with Syria, ending a partial suspension imposed in 2011 over human rights violations under Bashar al-Assad. The move follows Assad's fall in December 2024 and the lifting of most EU economic sanctions in 2025.
