STORY: An industrial zone in northern Syria's rebel-held city of Al-Bab has become an unlikely business hub.

It's located on the edge of a city once occupied by Islamic State, and now sits between a Turkish border wall to the north and a frontline with Syrian government forces to the south.

But the zone, one of five in the region controlled by Turkey-backed rebels, has become key to efforts to develop an economy hit by hardship and destruction during Syria's 11-year conflict.

If successful, it could bring much needed jobs and opportunities - six years after Turkish troops and Syrian fighters drove Islamic State from the region and prevented a Kurdish force from filling the void.

Abu Omar al-Shihabi says the iron bars his smelting factory makes there compete with any produced in Syria and beyond.

“I can compete with the Turks, if they allow us to enter our products to Turkey we can compete with Turkish products because of cheap labor and raw materials that are expensive in Turkey but cheap here. Because of the war and its aftermath we have a lot of scrap metal. We have secure scrap, cheap labor and establishing a factory is cheaper than in Turkey.”

The industrial zone, home to about 30 factories and workshops, was established four years ago on the road north from Al-Bab, with the support of Turkey.

Turkey hopes stability can encourage some 3.6 million Syrian refugees it currently hosts to head back across the border into Syria.

But despite the cheap labor costs, businesses in the industrial zone face steep challenges.

The area is still vulnerable to a possible offensive by Syrian government forces, while poor transport links and rising electricity costs hamper expansion.

Shihabi's smelter is just a fraction of the size of his pre-war operation, which employed 150 people before it was hit in a 2012 air raid.

Now it has just 25 workers, and production is down nearly 90%.

Most products in the Al-Bab zone are sold within the northern rebel-held territories, although some do reach more distant markets across frontlines or borders.