Trade and industry:
The main role of the city was as a trading place throughout the history, as it sat at the crossroads of two trade routes and mediated the trade from India, the Tigris and Euphrates regions and the route coming from Damascus in the South, which traced the base of the mountains rather than the rugged seacoast. Although trade was often directed away from the city for political reasons[why?], it continued to thrive until the Europeans began to use the Cape route to India and later to utilize the route through Egypt to the Red Sea.
The commercial traditions in Aleppo have deep roots in the history. The Aleppo Chamber of commerce founded in 1885, is one of the oldest chambers in the Middle East and the Arab world. According to many historians, Aleppo was the most developed commercial and industrial city in the Ottoman Empire after Constantinople and Cairo.
Being the largest urban area in the Syrian Republic, the economy of Aleppo is driven by textiles, chemicals, pharmaceutics, agro-processing industries, electricals, alcoholic beverages, engineering and tourism. It is the country’s dominant manufacturing centre, with a share of more than 50% of manufacturing employment and an even greater export share. Being located in a highly productive agricultural region, Aleppo supplies agricultural inputs and processes much of its agricultural output.
Possessing the most developed commercial and industrial plants in Syria, Aleppo is a major centre for manufacturing precious metals and stones.
The industrial city of Aleppo in Sheikh Najjar district is one of the largest ones in Syria and the region. Occupying an area of 4412 hectares in the north-eastern suburbs of Aleppo, the total investments in the city counted more than US$ 3.4 billion during 2010. Still under development, it is envisaged to open hotels, exhibition centres and other facilities within the industrial city.
The old traditional crafts are
