A powerhouse among the “big four” international accounting firms, KPMG operates in 144 countries and has more than 137,000 professionals working in member firms around the world. Combined revenues for KPMG member firms stood at $20.11 billion for the fiscal year to last September for a company which operates as an international network of member firms offering audit, tax and advisory services.

Accompanied by Hossam Amin Fahmy, CEO of South Asia and Middle East regional office and Syrian representative M. Zohdi Mejanni, KPMG’s Syrian partner; Jean Paul Thill gives us an insight into how one of the world’s largest names sees the Syrian business climate.

“I’m travelling 250 days a year, when people ask where am I based I say airports and various train stations – when volcanoes allow us to fly!” he told Forward Magazine recently from KPMG’s offices in Damascus.

Thill, from Luxemburg, has worked from Paris since 1978, an audit partner with the French firm and is CEO of the Europe, Middle East and Africa regions (EMA) which includes 106 countries in 18 time zones, since 2005.

“I met Mohammad [Zohdi Mejanni] at a conference in Jordan last November and he told me about a new law regarding the regulation of audit funds in Syria which would be of significance to us and for this, among other reasons, I’m here in Damascus today,” he added.

“Syria is opening, it’s changing. The traditional image is one of a closed economy, a socialist, centralized country. What we are seeing over the last six or seven years is a drive to open up the economy to participate in the global economy. Now it can reach out to investors,” said Thill.

Thill cited the launch of the Damascus Securities Exchange, as a way to get Syria involved on a global degree.

“You have to breed confidence and tell investors why you should come and bring your money to Syria; you need to provide some basic security for people’s investments. Today, Syria and every other country are not only in competition regionally, but on a worldwide scale,” he noted.

“It’s a big project because what you have to change is the mindset of the people, and that is the most difficult thing. You must have the people at the top who have the clearest vision of where to go but you have to carry those at the bottom too.”
Moving from a closed to an open economy is very difficult, believes Thill. “You have to implement international rules and norms that are applicable everywhere.”

Thill asked how Syria would work to get its ranking further up the World Bank’s “Ease of Doing Business” list, where it currently stands at an unhealthy 15th among Arab countries and 143 globally, adding how important a good standing on this was vital in producing a better idea of business life in Syria and for companies who are going to come in and take a look at the business environment.
But he is positive.

When he was told by a colleague in France that a multi-million dollar tender was coming up in Syria he says he jumped at the idea of becoming more deeply involved in the Syrian market.

“Our position is to have locals working in conjunction with KPMG. We want to have Indians working in our India offices, French in our French offices and Syrians in our Syria offices.”

“What you do not want is to run into problems like some big countries by using taxation as a weapon against specific types of companies because it takes a long time to build up trust but you can lose and damage this very quickly and from there it’s an uphill battle to get back to that,” he mused.

“Accounting principals in relation to entering the Damascus stock exchange are a big novelty for Syria I think, because it is a new thing and international equivalents are quite different,” noted Thill.


Quote:
“Syria is opening, it’s changing. The traditional image is one of a closed economy, a socialist, centralized country. What we are seeing over the last six or seven years is a drive to open up the economy to participate in the global economy. Now it can reach out to investors.”

• Sam Dalla: Was the Chinese model that good?
• Assad appoints a 29-member Constitutional Committee, for a new constitution by next February

• Assad appoints a 29-member Constitutional Committee, for a new constitution by next February
• Sam Dalla: Was the Chinese model that good?

• Assad appoints a 29-member Constitutional Committee, for a new constitution by next February
• Sam Dalla: Was the Chinese model that good?

• Assad appoints a 29-member Constitutional Committee, for a new constitution by next February
• Sam Dalla: Was the Chinese model that good?