The Middle East is famous for its souks. Each countries have their own trademark souks and obviously claim theirs are the best. In Damascus, the main souk is called the Al Hamidiyah souk located in the Old City. It's quite a busy souk connecting to other smaller souks, each one specialising in something different such as ladies souk, spice souk and so on. While here I met a Syrian who has been to Brunei many times mainly selling table cloths. He still could speak a bit of Malay! He said normally he attended the annual international fairs being held there but lately has not done so but rather concentrates his effort in Malaysia.
In general, goods are quite cheap in Damascus, up to 50% off from what one could get in the Gulf states. This is because the standard of living is lower and salaries are in general below US$300 a month in the private sectors. Recently the Government increased the fuel price - the biggest increase was on diesel which went up by 350%. Although it is still relatively cheap, but everyone are feeling the pinch. At the same time the Government also increased the salaries of the civil servants by 25% and the private sectors are expected to follow as well. The main reason for the increase is to reduce smuggling of fuel to Iraq but also to lessen government subsidy on fuel which amounted to about a billion dollars annually.
The Middle East is famous for its souks. Each countries have their own trademark souks and obviously claim theirs are the best. In Damascus, the main souk is called the Al Hamidiyah souk located in the Old City. It's quite a busy souk connecting to other smaller souks, each one specialising in something different such as ladies souk, spice souk and so on. While here I met a Syrian who has been to Brunei many times mainly selling table cloths. He still could speak a bit of Malay! He said normally he attended the annual international fairs being held there but lately has not done so but rather concentrates his effort in Malaysia.
In general, goods are quite cheap in Damascus, up to 50% off from what one could get in the Gulf states. This is because the standard of living is lower and salaries are in general below US$300 a month in the private sectors. Recently the Government increased the fuel price - the biggest increase was on diesel which went up by 350%. Although it is still relatively cheap, but everyone are feeling the pinch. At the same time the Government also increased the salaries of the civil servants by 25% and the private sectors are expected to follow as well. The main reason for the increase is to reduce smuggling of fuel to Iraq but also to lessen government subsidy on fuel which amounted to about a billion dollars annually.
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