Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa signed two presidential decrees on Sunday — numbered 190 and 191 — placing new leadership at the helm of the Syrian Petroleum Corporation and the Syrian Sovereign Wealth Fund, both among the country's most consequential economic bodies.
Decree No. 190 formalised the appointment of Maher Khalil al-Hassan to lead the Syrian Petroleum Corporation, filling the position previously held by Yousef Qablawi. Scrutiny of Qablawi's management of the portfolio had been accumulating over a period of time, and a contaminated fuel incident that left vehicles immobilised across several provinces drew broader public attention to the way the sector was being managed.
Under Decree No. 191, Omar Samer al-Halabi was named to lead the Syrian Sovereign Wealth Fund's board, taking over a post previously held by Mazen Salhani, who now holds the position of Tourism Minister. The same decree appointed al-Halabi as Economic Affairs Advisor within the Syrian Presidency and brought him into the membership of the Supreme Council for Economic Development, a body constituted through Decree No. 115 of 2025. The Sovereign Wealth Fund was established under Decree No. 250 of 2025, with leadership of that body now passing to al-Halabi while the remaining board members continue in their existing roles.
Al-Halabi's appointment coincided with a decision by Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs to keep Ibrahim Sukkariyeh — who goes by Abu Maryam al-Ostrali and holds the position of Director-General of the Sovereign Wealth Fund — on its sanctions register.
Al-Hassan completed petrochemical engineering studies at Homs University, with his qualification in that field conferred in 2010, approximately a decade after his birth in Hama in 1986. His professional background spans procurement, organisational administration, and retail trade. He worked in the production operations division at Hayan Petroleum Company across a two-year period from 2011 through 2013, after which he took on responsibility for oil-field operations east of Homs, with oversight of public services across the southern region running through to the end of 2016.
In 2017, al-Hassan assumed leadership of the Authority for the Management of International and Local Organizations. He subsequently held the post of Deputy Minister of Economy and Resources within the Syrian Salvation Government from 2018 until the fall of the Assad government. Within Mohammad al-Bashir's transitional administration, he served in a cabinet-level role overseeing internal trade and consumer protection before moving, in April 2025, to a deputy ministerial appointment carrying responsibility for domestic trade and consumer protection within the economy and industry portfolio.
Omar Samer al-Halabi holds an MBA with honours conferred by IE Business School. His professional formation also included executive education coursework at Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Fudan Business School, and the London School of Economics, covering subject areas spanning public policy, macroeconomics, innovative strategy, and innovation.
At KPMG Middle East, al-Halabi holds a partnership position overseeing the Economic Advisory and Public Policy practice within one of the four largest professional services networks globally. His professional output covers strategic planning for corporations and the crafting of policy frameworks for the public sector, with a focus on governance reform, the broadening of regional economies, and the long-term viability of industrial growth. His advisory work spans more than twenty years across public and private institutions, covering areas including economic development, trade facilitation, investment attraction, industrial localisation, and the measurement of socio-economic impact. Prior to KPMG, his professional background included a posting with the Saudi Public Investment Fund and a tenure of close to a decade at Johnson Controls.
