SOCHI, October 10. /TASS/. Syria hopes for Russia’s assistance in restoring the country’s economy, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said at the 10th meeting of the permanent Russian-Syrian commission on trade, economic, scientific and technical cooperation on Tuesday.

"Syria’s leadership and people are grateful to Russia for its support and assistance to the Syrian people in the fight against terrorism," the minister said. "At this stage, it is important to begin the next fight - the struggle for restoring Syria’s economy."

Muallem noted that "it was possible to create the basis for strategic cooperation" as part of interaction within the Russian-Syrian commission. "It depends on Russian companies how soon we will be able to fully restore Syria’s economy," he stressed. The Syrian minister expressed confidence that cooperation between the two countries "helps overcome all difficulties."

"We agreed to monitor the implementation of the agreements that had been reached. I would like to thank both delegations for the work to prepare the documents for the meeting," he added.