The signing of the Rehabilitation Fund Agreement in the Old City of Damascus took place on Wednesday, January 13th 2010 in the Directorate of the Old City located at the Palace of Culture (Maktab Anbar).
The agreement was between the Governorate of Damascus and two separate financial institutions: the Savings Bank of Syria and the First MicroFinance Institution FMFI-Syria.
The Rehabilitation Fund aims to provide the residents of the Old City of Damascus with access to financing and incentives for the purpose of rehabilitating traditional houses in the Old City. The fund is designed for the Governorate of Damascus to offer subsidized loans - via the aforementioned financial institutions - to residents who wish to undertake renovation works. The Governorate's loan subsidy will consist of the entire interest on the loan, and up to 10% of the loan amount.
A condition for receiving the loan subsidy will be for restoration works to be completed in an appropriate manner. This will be supervised by the Governorate of Damascus' Consultancy Unit, located in the Directorate of the Old City of Damascus. The Consultancy Unit will provide applicants with technical assessments of their houses - free of charge - as a basis to decide on adequate rehabilitation measures.
The concepts for both the Rehabilitation Fund and the Consultancy Unit were supported by the GTZ, CIM and DED with additional support of KfW within the framework of the ‘Program for Sustainable Urban Development - Rehabilitation of the Old City of Damascus Project', which has been working with the Governorate of Damascus -Directorate of the Old City for the past two years.

Below are some pictures and an English article written about the event.