Syria's economy needs radical reform - fast. It's been accepted for a while, but now Syria's top economists have said the same.

They're calling for the public sector, and government's management of the economy to be dramatically overhauled. It's the only way to stop the economy from stagnating, they say.

They made their call at a meeting of the Economics Research Forum in Damascus. The ERF is based in Cairo.

Syria's economy has been stumbling along, growing slowly ovet the past two decades. But regional instability and American threats have drastically reduced the amount of foreign investment in Syria. There's also the delay in signing the EU Association Agreement. It was supposed to have been completed in 2003, but American pressures to include 'WMD conditions' into the agreement split the EU and pushed Syria away.

And of course, don't forget US sanctions.

But there is good news. Syria's first fully private Internet Service provider has come online. It's thought it'll make it easier for people to get internet accounts - seen as essential in Syria's development. And the country's first private radio station recently launched in Aleppo (soon to spread across the country) - and the first private TV station is in the process of being created in the Gulf.