Economy of the Levant Arab Republic

The Economy of the Levant Arab Republic is based on agriculture, energy, industry and tertiary services.

Embargo
The embargo, argued as illegal by the government hindered economic growth. It barred access to several commodities, creating shortages and increasing prices. Inflation in the Levantine Lira appeared, increasing prices for daily necessities. Building materials affected, infrastructure projects saw halt in progress. The risk of poverty decline rebounding appeared.

To solve this the Levantine government seized assets of foreign companies that the embargo is followed from and nationalised them without compensation. It is now increasingly reliant on foreign assistance to finish infrastructure projects. Exports originally to countries that joined the embargo were rerouted to supply domestic demands instead.

Post-Embargo
By the time the embargo ended, the inflation was dealt with. It did however lower labour costs significantly to cause investors to return. Now the economy sees a significant rebound. Due to the forced reforms towards self-reliance, it has allowed the country to move closer towards a self-sustained economy.

Agriculture
Despite other lucrative business industries, agriculture is highly valued and seen as a priority so the country can achieve self-sufficiency in food production. As most of the land is covered in desert, the land in Lebanon, Palestine and near the Golan proves to be the best as rainfall is higher. Irrigation system dating to the Syrian Arab Republic is used for agriculture close to Euphrates river.

The use of seeds is dictated by the government. It prohibits the use of GMO seeds and instead encourages the growing of their own seed supply, and runs a project to sell seeds if farmers are unable to make their own. Crop rotation is also highly encouraged to prevent the exhaustion of land.

Cotton is one of the most produced crops, especially production taking place by the Euphrates river. Other popular crops are maize, sugar beets, olives and tomatoes while Lebanese farmers grow larger varieties.

Water is a key issue in agriculture, as reported in Northern Syria and the West Bank from old and poor irrigation techniques and past Israeli-occupation respectively. The government is solving this problem with the renovation of irrigation techniques, rainwater collection and reservoir building.

Energy
The main income for the energy industry is petroleum. Most of the petroleum in the country comes from Deir-ez-Zor in Syria and smaller deposits in the Homs governate. Oil production and sales is conducted by the state-owned Levantine Petroleum Company (LPC) with a partnership for overseas sales and investment by Genji Petroleum.

The country is also part of strategic for pipelines from the Middle Eastern heartland to the Eastern Mediterranean. In Jordan and Syria it hosts most of the Arab Gas Pipeline that carries natural gas from Sinai to Homs in Syria and Lebanon's Tripoli.

The country significantly reduced reliance on petroleum for power generation, going in favour of natural gas. Solar panel powerplants are implemented in Jordan and Syria, where most of their landscapes are deserts. In cities also, civilians place solar panels to general some energy to save electricty bills.

Finance
The Damascus Security Exchange is the Levant Arab Republic's largest stock exchange. Private banking is legalised with foreign banks requiring permission from the government to establish itself or form a joint venture in the country. The Central Bank of the Levant Arab Republic is the largest state bank in the country, and is responsible for minting Levantine Lira.

Industry
Damascus, Aleppo and Jerusalem hold the largest industrial areas of the country. Main industrial products are petroleum, textiles, processed food, beverages, tobacco, phosphate rocks, cement, crushed oil seeds, and assembled cars.

Mining
Phosphate minerals are the most mined in the country, focusing in Syria and Jordan. Cement, gypsum, industrial sand (silica), marble, natural crude asphalt, nitrogen fertilizer, phosphate fertilizer, salt, steel, and volcanic tuff are mined and are largely used domestically for infrastructure projects.

Tourism
Another major source of income is tourism. The country is part of a region rich in history, and the landscape is also beautiful. There is the Old City of Jerusalem in Palestine, Petra in Jordan, Crusader castles in Tripoli and the Umayyad Mosque in Syria, where Damascus is also the oldest known surviving city.

Free Trade Agreements

 * Genji Empire
 * Armenia
 * Turkestan
 * Cuba
 * Finland
 * Russia
 * White Seas Free Trade Agreement (Egypt, Maghreb)

Main export partners

 * 1) Genji Empire
 * 2) Russia
 * 3) Egypt
 * 4) Maghreb
 * 5) Japan

Main import partners

 * 1) Egypt
 * 2) China
 * 3) Russia
 * 4) Japan
 * 5) Turkestan