Al-Shoura [Archives:2003/669/Press Review]

14 Sept. 2003
Main headlines:
– UPFY secretary general al-Ruba'ie: Return of Yassin a step the country has been waiting
– Djibouti ambassador to Yemen denies American pressures on his country
– A committee for investigating into a citizen infected with AIDS

Columnist Abdulla al-Qadhi says in an article that investment in Yemen indicators have registered a remarkable retreat this year reaching to the half, compared to last year. A report issued by the state body for investment published recently revealed that the number of projects licensed during the first half of this year did not exceed 169 in various industrial. Services and productive sectors against 180 projects for the same period last year. Economists have attributed that retreat to a host of factors that impede investment among them is the foreign investors abstention from investing in Yemen and escape of local investors abroad because of their being exposed to harassment and hindrances by the influential s and the corrupt who pressure them to be partners in their projects in return for granting them protection and facilities. The second impeding factor is the high risks facing investment as a result of absence of security and legal guarantees, corruption of judiciary and fluctuations of legislative policies and let alone the corruption of administrative bodies. The third main impeding factor is Yemen's lacking of a genuine economic strategy easy to apply and capable of acquiring trust of investors in selecting their projects. Also there is the big gap between the political and information address and their practical implementation, as well as the absence of transparency in dealings and the use of false information and statistics. On the other hand some economists considered the government's using of treasury bonds as one of the factors of increasing the economic recession and retreat in the movement of investment.
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