23/05/2003 (Agency Europe) - the European Investment Bank will grant a loan of 50 million euros for the modernisation and development of the port of Tartous, located in the south of Syria. This loan will be granted to the Syrian state. The project is part of the efforts made by Damascus in favour of the ports of Tartous and Lattaquié, most of the country's foreign trade is by sea. While contributing to stimulate regional and international commercial flows, it also fits in to the prospect for the creation of a free trade zone in the Mediterranean basin by 2010.