IT part of visionTechnology can change Yemen [Archives:2005/820/Community]
Ismail Al-Ghabiri
Information technology should have a primary role in achieving Yemen's strategic vision for a more prosperous future, says Yemen's Minister of Telecommunication and Information Technology.
Minister Abdulmalik al-Mu'allimi notes that will help Yemen become a country of job providers, rather than job seekers.
“The main and strategic goal of telecommunication and information technology is to contribute to make Yemen a productive country, employing the technological equipment to accelerate the process of development and achieve the sought goals of 2025.”
He says that the 2025 strategic vision includes the enhancement of partnership between the government and the private sector, protecting the investment of the private sector and updating the administrative system of the state.
“Telephone services have to reach all the population settlements in Yemen which number up to 70,000, and it is notable that the average distribution of telephone services could not reach 10 percent,” al-Mu'allimi commented, noting that since the population is expected to grow quickly, this needs extensive efforts to be paid in the field of providing telephone services to citizens.
Abdulmalik al-Mu'allimi noted that the lack of IT in places like Yemen is dividing the world into two groups: the first group being strong, depending on the economy of technology; and the second group, the majority of world, unable to overcome the barriers that hinder them from profiting from that technology.
Regarding the strategy of telecommunication and information technology, the long-term visions reflect the ambitions and goals sought by the Yemeni society in the economic, social, cultural and political areas, said alMu'allimi.
The strategic vision aims to push Yemen and its development toward the medium- developed countries in many areas including posting services to cover all the Yemeni governorates with an average of one post office for every 20,000 people.
The achievements of 2004 in the field of telecommunication and information technology are considers of the prominent factors that helped Yemen move toward the world of telecommunication and technology. Such achievements asserted that Yemen is one of the countries that provide distinctive services in the field of telecommunication and according the modern technology.
The goals come after a year when IT changed in Yemen.
For example, 2004 saw the inauguration of “Yemen Mobile” which put an end to the monopoly practiced by the other mobile-service providers, and offers a better service for citizens and with suitable prices.
Meanwhile, the infrastructure of telecommunication and information technology witnessed a distinctive stride as numerous projects. Projects inaugurated in all Yemeni governorates totaled YR 38.5 billion. The overall capacity of telephone lines reached 362,616 according to figures of last year.
The General Post Authority also achieved growth in services, which was reflected in the completion of technical equipment which enabled the authority to provide distinctive services such as money transfers between Yemen and other countries. This helped lessen the effort and time needed to sign the partnership contract between the General Post Authority and the Yemeni Company for International Telecommunications.
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