Economy News [Archives:2001/26/Business & Economy]

Preparations for Saudi loan of 300 million dollars 
Both Yemen and Saudi Arabia put the last touches, in the final session of the bilateral Coordination Council, for a loan of 300 million dollars intending to fund the developmental projects in Yemen . 
The two sides signed two other agreements in the field of media and marine transportation. The Saudi Development Fund promised in April to grant Yemen this loan for supporting the projects in the field of electricity , roads and professional training. 
On eve of his departure, prince Sultan stated that the two sides agreed on forming a follow up committee comprising experts for defining new fields of cooperation. It is worth mentioning that during his visit the prince gave the green signal for building a hospital in Sana’a. The total investment in this project which will amount to 100 million dollars out of which there is expected to be a significant contribution by Saudi Arabia. 
Yemen is considered as one of the poorest countries in the world and it depends on the Saudi financial aid which has so far been to the tune of about 3 billion dollars over the period from 1971 to 1987. 
Shortage in Electricity 
The Minister for Electricity and Water Mr. Yahia Al-Biad said in a statement that the current shortage in electricity is about 20% and is likely to go up to 50% in 2005 if the situation does not improve. 
The London based newspaper- Al hayat said that Sana’a and many other Yemeni cities are facing an acute shortage in power during these days because of the summer load. The experts at the Ministry estimated that the minimum cost for meeting the urgent needs of power is about 30 million dollars. 
On the other hand , the minister mentioned that they have initiated steps for establishing an emergency power generating station in Sana’a ( of about 50 megawatt ) and it is expected to be completed in 18 months. The Ministry also reached an agreement with a foreign company to generate an additional 180 megawatt, as a part of a program to generate 230 megawatt. 
A biological statistics program on identifying fish locations 
The fish biological statistics program , which is carried out by the Center of Sea Science in Aden, aims at reckoning the main locations for fishing of high quality such as tuna, ashram, rockfish. It also intends to explore storage facilities for fish. 
This project is funded within the framework fourth project relating to fish under the supervision of FAO. This project is currently covering Aden governorate and is initiating a scientific foundations for studying the phenomena of marine pollution as well as protection the marine environment of Aden. 
Yemeni – Ethiopian negotiations: significant outcomes 
Negotiations between Yemen and Ethiopian in Addis Ababa have come with positive outcomes that are expected to consolidate the relations between the two countries in all aspects, especially in trade. This is in addition to the signs of the balance of trade between them which has clearly increased during the last three years to the advantage of Yemen . 
They also discussed the possibility for establishing a free commercial zone between the two countries for the mutual benefit . 

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