Project Syria 2026 opens at the Damascus Fairground on 2 to 5 November 2026, as the organiser has announced. It opens on Monday, two days after this update of 31 October 2026.
The organiser has now published the exhibitor list and the conference programme, but not stand prices, and you still have to choose between a stand and a visit. With the opening this close, a visit with Match Gate meetings is the practical option for most companies; the stand calculation still applies to any show you consider exhibiting at later. Here is what is confirmed and what is only repeated by calendars, which of the seven zones fits your company, how to work out a stand’s break-even point, and what to do each week until the follow-up.
Project Syria 2026: What the Organiser Has Actually Announced
The exhibition website describes Project Syria as an international trade exhibition for building materials, equipment and energy solutions for Syria’s reconstruction. It runs from 2 to 5 November 2026 at the Damascus Fairground, daily from 14:00 to 21:00. IFP Group of Beirut organises it with Alfa For Exhibitions, under the patronage of the Ministry of Public Works and Housing.
| Item | Status on 31 October 2026 |
|---|---|
| Dates | Announced: 2 to 5 November 2026, Monday to Thursday |
| Venue | Announced: Damascus Fairground; stands are in Halls 25 and 26, according to the exhibitor list |
| Hours | Announced: 14:00 to 21:00 daily |
| Organiser | Announced: IFP Group with Alfa For Exhibitions, under the patronage of the Ministry of Public Works and Housing |
| Exhibitor list | Published: more than 100 companies and organisations from 14 countries |
| Conference programme | Published: four days, 36 sessions |
| Zones and Match Gate | Announced: seven exhibition zones and a free meeting booking platform |
| Stand prices | Not published |
| Match Gate booking deadline | Not announced |
| Projects to be tendered at the show | Not announced |
Project Syria Exhibition Dates, Venue, Hours and Organisers
Search results label the event the IFP Group Syria exhibition, after the Beirut company that runs it. Italy’s trade agency, ICE, calls it the first edition.
The organiser’s website names the Ministry of Economy and Industry, Damascus Governorate and the Syrian Investment Authority as government partners. Supporting bodies listed include the Federation of Syrian Chambers of Commerce, the Damascus Chamber of Commerce, and contractors’ and engineers’ associations. The organiser has published the conference agenda: four days and 36 sessions, opened on 2 November by a keynote from the Minister of Public Works and Housing, Eng. Mustafa Abdul Razzaq, alongside workshops and an awards ceremony.
What Project Syria 2026 Has Not Announced Yet
Online event calendars copy the organiser’s dates and sometimes mix up the reconstruction shows. The exhibitor list and conference programme are now out, but as of 31 October 2026 a reader is still missing three items:
- Stand prices.
- The deadline for requesting Match Gate meetings.
- Any list of projects to be tendered.
The dates are not identical everywhere. IFP’s 2026 events calendar shows 2 to 4 November in one place, while the exhibition site says 2 to 5 November. Rely on the exhibition site and check it before you travel.
Damascus Reconstruction Exhibition, November 2026: Where It Fits
The World Bank estimated on 21 October 2025 that rebuilding Syria would cost about USD 216 billion, within a range of USD 140 billion to USD 345 billion, and put direct physical damage at about USD 108 billion. According to official figures announced in September 2026, the Damascus International Fair, which closed on 4 September, produced outcomes of more than 150 billion new Syrian pounds, above USD 1 billion. The figure is preliminary and covers contracts, memoranda of understanding, orders and trade understandings.
Within that picture, Project Syria is a building materials, equipment and energy show. The organiser has published no deal figures. Two other events are easy to confuse with it:
- Buildex Damascus: the 2026 edition was held from 10 to 14 June 2026 at the Damascus exhibition city and organised by the Arab Group for Exhibitions and Conferences.
- Rebuild Syria: the second edition ran from 13 to 16 September 2026, organised by Effect Plus. We cover its outcomes in Rebuild Syria 2026 exhibition results.
Also read: Syria Reconstruction Projects 2026: Investment Opportunities and Costs
The Seven Zones at Project Syria 2026 Damascus: Which Is Yours?
The organiser lists seven zones by name and gives no description of each. The table reads each name and matches it to a company type. That is the editor’s reading, not an organiser statement, and it names no exhibitors.
| Zone | What it shows (read from the name) | Company type it suits |
|---|---|---|
| Heavy Max | Heavy equipment and machinery | Infrastructure and roads contractor, equipment supplier |
| Interior Fit Out | Interior fit-out and finishing | Finishing and fit-out company, finishing materials supplier |
| Lighting Tech | Lighting and lighting technology | Electrical contractor, lighting supplier |
| Property | Real estate and development | Developer, residential contractor |
| Smart District | Smart district and city solutions | Infrastructure and utilities contractor, systems company |
| Stone Tech | Stone, marble and related technology | Stone and marble supplier, façade contractor |
| Energy | Energy solutions | Electrical and energy contractor, energy equipment supplier |
Pick your zone before you book anything. One or two zones usually cover a target list.
Match Gate Business Meetings: How to Make Pre-Booked Meetings Count
The organiser calls Match Gate a free service for arranging one-to-one meetings with buyers, contractors, developers and suppliers. Access opens once you book a stand or register as a visitor. Requests are handled first come, first booked, and a company that declines your request cannot be asked again. No booking deadline had been announced as of 31 October 2026, so request meetings as soon as you register.
Prepare in three steps:
- Write a one-page company profile: what you do, which cities you work in, and the types of project you serve.
- List 15 to 20 target organisations by name, in priority order.
- Draft a three-line meeting request. Line one says who you are and your project type. Line two states what you want to discuss, with quantities. Line three proposes a time.
IFP Group Syria Exhibition: Expected Scale of a First Edition
The Italian Trade Agency (ICE), which runs the Italian pavilion, estimates the exhibition at about 30,000 m², with about 200 exhibitors and about 15,000 visitors. These are pre-event estimates. The organiser speaks of hundreds of exhibitors, and the exhibitor list it had published by 31 October 2026 named more than 100 companies and organisations, most of them from Lebanon, Syria and Italy.
For a visitor, the exhibitor count sets how many meetings can fit. Four days of seven hours give 28 hours, room for at most 56 half-hour meetings for one team with no gaps. Walking between stands cuts that ceiling, so a list of 15 to 20 names is closer to reality.
Stand or Visit at Project Syria 2026 Damascus? A Break-Even Test
Start with one formula, then a calendar, then a checklist. The numbers in the example are hypothetical, for illustration only. The stand cost has not been announced, so plug in the organiser’s quote when it reaches you.
Stand Break-Even at Project Syria 2026: A Hypothetical Example
Qualified clients needed = C ÷ (M × R).
- C: total participation cost, including stand rent, design, freight, travel, accommodation and staff time.
- M: profit margin on one contract.
- R: the share of qualified clients who end in a contract.
| Item | Value (hypothetical, for illustration) |
|---|---|
| C: total participation cost | USD 32,000 |
| M: margin per contract | USD 5,000 |
| R: conversion rate | 20% |
| M × R: expected margin per qualified client | USD 1,000 |
| Qualified clients needed: 32,000 ÷ 1,000 | 32 clients |
That is 32 qualified clients in 28 hours, about 1.14 per hour, and roughly six contracts closed after the show. The question is whether your team can hold a qualified meeting about every hour for four days without the quality of those meetings dropping. If not, a visit with a defined target list is the better fit.
Ask Qiwaa Advance for a supply quotation for building and finishing materials against your bill of quantities before you work out the margin on a contract.
Prep and Follow-Up Calendar for the Damascus Exhibition, November 2026
The calendar starts on 31 October 2026, two days before the opening, and ends two weeks after the show closes.
| Date | Task | Owner |
|---|---|---|
| Saturday 31 October | Confirm dates and hours on the organiser’s site; register as a visitor to open Match Gate; finish the company profile and the project file: type, location, quantities, delivery city | Sales manager and quantity surveyor |
| Sunday 1 November | Build the target list from the exhibitor list and send meeting requests; final check of cards, samples and the lead capture tool | Team |
| Monday 2 to Thursday 5 November | Show days, 14:00 to 21:00; log every meeting on one form | Whole team |
| Sunday 8 November | Sort meetings and mark the qualified clients | Sales manager |
| Monday 9 November | Send the follow-up message and a first offer to each qualified client | Sales manager |
| Thursday 12 November | Fill missing specifications and send quotations | Quantity surveyor |
| Monday 16 November | Second follow-up by phone | Sales manager |
| Thursday 19 November | Count qualified clients and compare the cost of participation with the target | Management |
18 Things to Check Before Booking a Stand at Project Syria 2026
- Calculate the full participation cost: rent, design, freight and travel.
- Choose the right zone out of the seven.
- Ask the organiser where the stand sits on the floor.
- Set a numeric target: the number of qualified clients that covers the cost.
- Write the target list by name.
- Request Match Gate meetings as soon as access opens.
- Prepare a project file with types, quantities and delivery city.
- Bring the samples that match your list.
- Print brochures in Arabic and English.
- Assign the team to fixed shifts.
- Plan around the 14:00 to 21:00 opening hours.
- Agree the currency in which offers at the stands will be priced.
- Read the cancellation terms before paying.
- Review insurance for samples and equipment.
- Ask which permits shipping and display require.
- Pick one tool for capturing visitor data.
- Write the follow-up plan and its dates in advance.
- Fix a review date for the results, such as 19 November.
Qiwaa Advance Before Your Meetings: Materials, Water Pipes and Formwork
Contractors come to Project Syria meetings looking for supply and delivery partners on reconstruction work, and those meetings go better with firm numbers. Qiwaa Trading, part of Qiwaa Advance, supplies building and finishing materials against your bill of quantities and delivery city. If you are bringing a water or sewer project to the show, we supply GRP pipes through our authorised Amiantit agency, and Qiwaa Contracting can deliver the network on an EPC basis. If your project is residential or structural, we offer Variant Factory LLC formwork systems through our agency in Syria.
For this article, that background matters in one way: it helps you walk into your meetings with your project’s quantities and specifications in hand.
A Ready Project File vs Collecting Cards: Comparison Table
| Criterion | Project file with defined quantities | Visit to collect cards |
|---|---|---|
| Meeting quality | The talk starts from quantities and specification | The talk starts from general introductions |
| Speed to a quote | The exhibitor can price what is in front of them | Usually needs a message and a later request for data |
| Clarity of quantities | Quantities are written before the meeting | They are settled after the show |
| Post-show follow-up | Builds on figures already discussed | Starts from a card and a short conversation |
| Measuring return | Offers received can be set against cost | Hard to measure beyond a count of cards |
An exploratory visit suits a company that has not defined its project yet, or one meeting the market for the first time.
How Qiwaa Advance Helps Contractors Prepare Figures Before a Show
The contractor sends us the project type, location, quantities and delivery city, plus pipe diameters and operating pressures if pipes are involved. We treat this as a supply request for building and finishing materials through Qiwaa Trading, priced against the bill of quantities, so the contractor enters the meetings with quantities and specifications written down.
This also helps anyone comparing offers from several stands, because every supplier can be asked to price against the same bill of quantities. Our guide to construction materials quotations shows how to compare the offers line by line. If your project is a water network, see GRP Fiberglass Pipes in Syria: A Practical Choice for Water Projects.
Send your project file on WhatsApp or contact us to settle quantities and delivery city before you travel to Damascus.
Read more: Damascus Reconstruction 2026: Where to Invest and How to Start
Questions Contractors Ask About Project Syria 2026
When and where is Project Syria 2026 held?
It runs from 2 to 5 November 2026 at the Damascus Fairground, daily from 14:00 to 21:00, as the organiser has announced. IFP Group organises it with Alfa For Exhibitions, under the patronage of the Ministry of Public Works and Housing. Check the website before you travel.
Is booking Match Gate meetings free?
Yes, the organiser describes the service as free, and access opens once you book a stand or register as a visitor. No deadline for requesting meetings had been announced as of 31 October 2026, and requests are handled first come, first booked. Book early, and have a short profile and a target list ready before you start.
How much does a stand at Project Syria cost?
Stand prices had not been published as of 31 October 2026, so ask the organiser directly through the space booking page on the exhibition website. When the offer arrives, enter the full cost into the break-even formula in this article, and compare the number of qualified clients it requires with what your team can handle in 28 hours.
How does Project Syria differ from Rebuild Syria and Buildex Damascus?
They are three different events with different organisers and dates. IFP Group organises Project Syria on 2 to 5 November 2026. The Arab Group for Exhibitions and Conferences ran Buildex Damascus in June 2026, and Effect Plus ran Rebuild Syria in September 2026. Online calendars often mix them up.
The organiser confirms the dates, venue and hours, and the choice between a stand and a visit is settled by a formula you run yourself, not by the size of the event. ICE’s estimate of about 15,000 visitors remains a pre-event estimate. The actual results will depend on what the organiser and official bodies announce after the show closes on 5 November. Before travelling to Damascus, send your project type, location, quantities and delivery city to the Qiwaa Advance team on WhatsApp so you enter your meetings with your quantities ready.
Sources
- Project Syria 2026, IFP Group, 31 October 2026
- Project Syria 2026 Conference Agenda, IFP Group, 31 October 2026
- Project Syria 2026 Exhibitors List, IFP Group, 31 October 2026
- Match Gate, IFP Group, 31 October 2026
- Padiglione Italia a Project Syria 2026, Italian Trade Agency (ICE)
- IMAR 2026, International Reconstruction Exhibition, Italian Trade Agency (ICE)
- Syria’s Post-Conflict Reconstruction Costs Estimated at $216 Billion, World Bank, 21 October 2025
- Outcomes of the 63rd Damascus International Fair, SANA, 5 September 2026
- 630 companies take part in Buildex 2026 in Damascus, Enab Baladi, 30 March 2026
