Foreign businesses: local company, branch or agency?

Company formation

What the sources say

In September 2025, the foreign branches and agencies office moved to the Companies Directorate in Damascus's Internal Trade Administration. [1]

Scope & conditions: This changes the administrative contact, not approval of a particular branch.

The March 2026 circular excludes imports from foreign individuals' registers, except investment-law project equipment and activity. [2]

Scope & conditions: This concerns foreign individuals' registers, not every foreign-owned company.

The circular bars foreign/Arab company representation and agencies on registers with non-Syrian owners or partners. [2]

Scope & conditions: Check the activity and ownership structure before applying for agency business.

Practical preparation suggestions, not a mandatory document list or a substitute for the authority’s requirements.

List every owner's nationality and whether it is a person or entity.
Distinguish parent-company branch, local company, individual register and agency.
Describe actual activities, especially imports and commercial representation.
Inventory available parent-company records without assuming automatic acceptance.
Ask the authority about required translation, legalization and representation.
Confirm activity eligibility before signing an agency agreement or long lease.

Questions to verify your circumstances with the relevant authority, not assumptions of approval or exemption.

Every fact below is linked to a source. A news publication date alone does not establish when a legal rule takes effect.