Manufacturing Syrian manufacturing industries began to grow substantially in the 1960s. The government encouraged industrialization by raising tariffs on imported consumer goods and providing tax exemptions and credit for domestic industries. After the secession, except for a large textile concern and several flour mills, Syrian industry was denationalized. The requirement that companies distribute 25 percent of their profits to their employees was retained, however. Many of the industries that were returned to private management after the break with Egypt were renationalize in 1965.
Textiles constitute the largest single manufacturing industry in Syria.
Cotton and silk textile production was about 26,000 metric tons per year in the early 1990s. Syrian artisans continue to be noted, as in centuries past, for the fine quality of their silk brocades and rugs and for their artistic metalwork in brass, copper, silver, iron, and steel. Annual cement production was about 3.2 million tons. The soap, glass, flour, tobacco, tanning, vegetable oil, and food-processing industries are growing, and about 27 million metric tons of crude petroleum were produced annually in the early 1990s. Energy About 20 percent of Syria's electricity is generated in hydroelectric facilities, and the remainder is produced in conventional thermal installations.