Trade mission goes to Syria

Construction Minister Lord Ullswater is to head the first Ministerial trade mission to Syria for over 10 years. The visit next week will focus on exploring opportunities for British construction and consulting companies.

Lord Ullswater said: 'Syria's population is growing at over 3% per year. This is making formidable demands on the country's infrastructure. UK companies have the skills and experience to help Syria meet these demands.'

Areas of particular interest to UK companies are water treatment and supply, power distribution and transmission, and general construction.

Among those in the business team accompanying the Minister will be John Grimes (Binnie & Partners), Mel Stewart (Sir William Halcrow & Partners), Peter Darley (Howard Humphreys), Roger Carter (Mott MacDonald), Tony Selman (Rust Kennedy & Donkin) and Alain Garrigue (Trafalgar House Construction).