Book Description

In theory, the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) adopts and implements policies based on a high level of decentralisation and popular grass-root participation. Nonetheless, its central commissions and offices exercise a great deal of control over key sectors of the economy. The Democratic Union Party (PYD) celebrates agricultural and industrial cooperatives as pillars of its alternative social economy structure, but they have failed to replace private property and their impact on the region's finances is marginal. Despite the PYD's perceived unchallenged control of the AANES, a parallel power structure operated by the Syrian regime still continues to exist in key economic sectors of the region, which remain relatively dependent on Damascus. Although it is difficult to trace how the AANES's budget revenue is collected and spent, the primary resources of the Administration stem from oil sales, income tax and fees, and import duties. Local businessmen associated with powerful PYD officials benefit from trade with the regime, opposition-held areas and the Kurdistan Regional Government and are a pillar of the new ecosystem. The Autonomous Administration's expenditure includes the military, early recovery projects, the restoration of infrastructure such as irrigation channels and roads and the maintenance of the electricity grid and the cost of running public health, education and local administration institutions. The AANES provides relatively good quality services but in the eyes of the local population at a disproportionate cost. The fees and taxation differ from area to area in the north-east, creating discrepancies and resulting in protests among certain populations. The private sector in north-eastern Syria has not significantly evolved since the establishment of the Autonomous Administration and is mostly geared towards food production. The construction sector has witnessed a boom and the price of real estate has increased considerably because of the flow of remittances and internally displaced persons to the region. Assistance from UN agencies and international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) to vulnerable populations has considerably eased their burden on the AANES but it is tightly regulated by the AANES.