Efforts to increase Yemen-China volume of trade exchange to $3 billion [Archives:2006/917/Business & Economy]

Yemen Times Staff

In a Jan. 25 meeting in Beijing between Yemen's Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Abdulmalik Ismael Al-Maalami, and his Chinese counterpart, the two ministers discussed bilateral cooperation in areas of communications, information technology and exchange of expertise.

Al-Maalami also reviewed with the Chinese minister China's technological capabilities and Yemen's prospects of benefiting from them, in addition to information technology and communications development.

The two ministers met on the sidelines of meetings of the seventh session of the Yemeni-Chinese Joint Committee for Economic, Trade and Technical Cooperation January 23-25 in Beijing.

At the meeting's conclusion, the two sides signed session minutes containing results they reached, focusing on consolidating cooperation in various fields. Main fields agreed upon were economic, trade, oil, loans and future investment programs. The minutes also included special preparations for Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh's expected visit to China this year, as well as celebration preparations for the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The volume of trade exchange between Yemen and China currently amounts to $1.6 billion; however, this does not correspond with the two countries' high level of cooperation. Thus, they intend to intensify efforts to expand the relationship to increase volume of trade exchange from $1.9 to $3 billion by the Chinese government's encouraging its firms to invest in Yemen.

Cooperation between Yemen and China has witnessed great improvement in the areas of crude oil, natural gas, energy, industry and communications, among others. In this regard, the two countries recently signed $36 million in agreements.
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