Syria's new rulers plan to privatize state-owned ports and factories, attract foreign investment and boost international trade, and carry out economic reforms aimed at ending decades of pariah status, Syria's foreign minister told the Financial Times.

"(Assad's) vision is to build a security state. Our goal is economic development," Assad Shabani said in a wide-ranging interview in Damascus, his first to international media. "Laws need to be enacted and clear messages need to be sent to open the way for foreign investors and encourage Syrian investors to return to Syria."

Shabani spoke to the Financial Times ahead of Wednesday's appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Syria's first annual meeting of global policymakers. He will use the trip to renew his call for the lifting of punitive Assad-era sanctions, which he says will hamper Syria's economic recovery and prevent other countries from being "clearly ready" to invest.

While Western countries have been quick to step in, many say they are waiting to see whether the new leaders will deliver on their lofty promises before easing sanctions.

The minister is one of the key figures in the new caretaker government and is close to the country's de facto ruler Ahmed al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Jaw Abu Mohammad al-Jolani. Shara's Islamist militant group Tahrir al-Sham led the offensive that toppled former dictator Bashar al-Assad in December.

In the weeks since, technocrats and former Assad-era civil servants have been working to expose the damage done to the country and its coffers by a regime with a closed socialist economy, Shabani said.

These include the discovery of $30 billion in debt owed by Assad's former allies Iran and Russia, non-existent central bank foreign exchange reserves, bloated public sector wages and the decline of industries such as agriculture and manufacturing, which have suffered Neglected and undermined by the corrupt Assad era. policy.

Shabani acknowledged that the challenges ahead are huge and will take years to resolve. He said a committee was being formed to study Syria's economic situation and infrastructure and would focus on privatization efforts such as oil, cotton and furniture factories.

He also said they would explore public-private partnerships to encourage investment in airports, rail and roads. The challenge, however, will be to find a buyer for an entity that has declined for years in a fragmented country cut off from foreign investment.

Shabani said recovery was a priority, including providing enough bread, water, electricity and fuel to people pushed to the brink of poverty by Assad's rule, war and sanctions.

"We don't want to live on humanitarian aid, and we don't want countries to give us money as if they were throwing their investments into the sea," he said.

Key, he added, was easing U.S. and European sanctions on Assad's regime and former al-Qaeda affiliate HTS, which many Western governments still label as a terrorist organization.

While the United States has issued several limited sanctions waivers, including for countries seeking to help Syria during this period, officials believe it is not enough. “Open the door for these places to start working,” Shabani said.

While some Western capitals, such as Berlin, appear willing to ease some sanctions, they are awaiting the new Islamist-led government's approach to issues such as women's and minority rights. The EU is scheduled to hold a meeting of foreign ministers on January 27 to discuss EU sanctions.

The EU's top diplomat, Kaja Karas, said this month that the lifting of sanctions "must be followed by real progress on a political transition that reflects Syria's diversity".

Shabani said Syria's new leadership was working to reassure Gulf Arab and Western officials that the country posed no threat.

Some countries in the region, notably the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, are wary of the resurgence of Islamist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria, while other Arab states worry the rebels' success could revive revolutionary sentiment in their countries.

Shabani said Syria did not intend to "export its revolution and start intervening in other countries' affairs." He said the new government's priority is not to pose a threat to other countries, but to build regional alliances and pave the way for Syria's prosperity.

He added that Syria's "special relationship" with Türkiye would allow Syria to benefit from Ankara's technology, regional influence and European ties. Türkiye has been the rebels' most active backer in the 13-year war against Assad.

But Shabani dismissed concerns that this would bring undue influence to its northern neighbor or constitute "Turkish expansion". "There will be and will be no conquest," he said.

A key challenge facing the new government is the fate of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, Washington's partner in the fight against Islamic State. However, Ankara sees this as an extension of Kurdish separatists who have long fought the Turkish government and has threatened military action in northeastern Syria if the Kurdish militias are not disbanded.

Since taking office, Syria's new leader has been working to disband the SDF and integrate its fighters into the state, citing Syrian unity, but the SDF has so far refused. Shabani said discussions with the forces were ongoing, adding that Damascus was also preparing to take over SDF-controlled prisons holding thousands of captured Islamic State fighters.

"The presence of the SDF is no longer justified," Shabani said, adding that authorities were committed to safeguarding Kurdish rights in the new constitution and ensuring their representation in government.