Major Saudi Arabian firms are planning billion-dollar investments in Syria as part of the kingdom's business-forward approach to the country's recovery, but US sanctions and a fractured Syrian state apparatus pose formidable obstacles. Among the companies looking to break into the market are Saudi renewable energy major ACWA Power and state telecoms firm STC, said Abdullah Mando, CEO of the new Saudi-Syrian Business Council. The plan is to start with the basics in Syria's war-torn economy by