Djiboutian ambassador to Yemen Mr. Sahal Ismail Naur””Djibouti to join the Sana’a Forum” [Archives:2007/1063/Reportage]

Interviewed by: Raidan Al-Saqqaf [email protected]
The Republic of Djibouti has recently celebrated its 30th anniversary since independence (June 25th) on this occasion, YemenTimes spoke to the Djiboutian Ambassador in Yemen on the bilateral relations of the two countries.

How would you describe the development of the Yemeni-Djibouti relations?

The Yemeni Djibouti relations are at its finest levels, we have historical ties as the Yemeni and Djiboutian people share a lot more than one might think, it is a similar culture and the same religion, Arabic is spreading very fast and Djibouti and on it way to becoming an official language. In fact, many businessmen, parliamentarians and officials in Djibouti are Yemenis and of Yemeni origins.

Please tell us more on the cultural ties between the two neighboring countries.

Djibouti and Yemen share a lot of traditions and cultural values as a result of their history, but more recently, the cultural ties are being strengthened by the educational systems which are becoming increasingly similar, There are around 300 Djiboutian students studying in Yemeni universities in a number of academic disciplines, these students were given fellowships and scholarships from the Yemeni government and Yemeni universities, and have been accepted unconditionally to enroll in these universities, receiving treatment as if they were Yemenis.

Additionally, the university in Djibouti has adopted the curricula of Yemeni Universities at the bachelor degree, believing the quality and value of education here, there are Yemeni supervisors and inspects from the universities who come to Djibouti and help Djibouti students in their studies and discuss academic affairs with Djiboutian professors.

Even in the schooling level, the largest school in Djibouti is the Yemeni school, and many schools there teach the Arabic language.

Other ties between the two countries include Security, how do you define the developments in security cooperation.

Security is very important issues for the two countries, we both face the threat of terrorism especially in the light of the regional unrest, but the main challenge is how to continue sustainable development in the country while maintaining excellent relations with neighboring countries. In the event of conflict it is very important that the parties involved should sit together on the table and talk, or follow the Djiboutian example of sitting under the shade of a tree and engage in a constructive discussion towards the betterment of their country, without allowing any exterior or foreign intervention in their internal affairs.

Let's talk about the economic aspects of the relationship, the two presidents agreed to construct a bridge linking the two countries, how impact would that have on economic ties?

If this bridge is realized this would be a huge step in the bilateral relations, and will link the two continents with each other. The potential is huge, for transport of passengers and goods, this bridge could be the gateway of Africa to the Middle East and vice versa, this bridge will indeed highlight the strategic importance of the two countries in the region.

As you know, we are a small and a poor country, we don't have natural resources, and we also don't have agriculture, but all we have is services, all our income comes from services rendered, and our challenge is to challenge the nearest ports to us, what is important to us is to maintain the fact that we are the gateway to 80 million people in landlocked Ethiopia, we are the only gateway Ethiopia has, so we must modernize our ports, we are a member of the Comesa, so we are facing all these challenges, as a port we are competing with Aden and Salalah who have better capacities, but we are improving.

In 2001 we have signed an agreement with Dubai Ports International to administer and modernize the capacity of our port, until now we didn't have any problem with the Dubai Ports company, the contract is going on, they have enlarged the port, and they also separated the commercial port from the petroleum port, they made especially docks and terminals.

Will Djibouti join the Sana'a forum?

So many people ask me why Djibouti hasn't joined the Sana'a forum. And if my comment on that that there are no obstacles stopping Djibouti from joining the forum, we see many benefits from joining the Sana'a forum, especially economic benefits. Djibouti has successfully maintained excellent relations with all its neighboring countries, namely Somalia, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Yemen at the same time, so I think that we are very likely to join the Sana'a forum soon.

Your Excellency, thank you for your time, are there any other comments you wish to add?

Thank you, I'd like to take this opportunity to salute the Yemeni government, and thank them for the support they give Djiboutian students in Yemen and the Djiboutian people, I am very glad to be in Yemen and it is my pleasure to be working in Yemen.
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