Second joint meeting of GCC and Yemeni foreign ministers [Archives:2006/995/Front Page]
By: Nadia Al-Sakkaf
GGC member States foreign ministers or their representatives met for the second time as preparation step for the donors conference to take place in London between the 16th and 17th of this month.
SANA'A, Nov. 1 ) Yemen requires a funding of 48 billi0on US dollars ion order to achieve the million development goals, as stated by Abdul Qadir Bajamal Yemeni Prime Minster at the opening session of the second joint meeting of foreign ministers of Gulf Cooperation Council and Yemen yesterday Wednesday, Nov 1 2006. The meeting aimed to discuss the final preparations of donor conference with Yemen's development partners, and would determine required funds to carry out the economic and social development plan 2006-2010 for poverty reduction. Yemeni Foreign Minister Abu Bakr Al-Qirbi in his welcoming remarks said “This cooperation is a start of a large political Arab cooperation and the meeting conveys Yemen and the GCC's desire to get together”
He conveyed the increasing commercial exchange between Yemen and the Gulf countries since 2000, and that it would be fair to say that more than 80% of this exchange is towards the benefit of the gulf economy, keeping in mind the facilitation provided by the Yemeni government for investment. As for Yemen, there has been improvement but it is much below the required need and does not serve the nation's economy. “Yemen faces various challenges especially poverty which we all know breed terrorism which in turn is not good for the whole region not just Yemen. If Yemen is not able to contain the security issues and maintain stability then this would reflect on all the countries.” He said.
The government of Yemen aspires to achieve an annual economic growth of 7.1% and he hoped the investment conference coming February will be an opportunity to strengthen this strategy. Funding Yemeni development is an investment for all countries, as helping Yemen today would prove beneficial for all in the future, he added.
The Qatari Foreign Minister Shiekh Hamad Bin Jasim Al Thani, who briefly remained in the session before departing to another country, emphasized on his government's will to develop the Yemeni-Gulf relations especially financially. “We promise to stand by Yemen politically and financially and especially financially,” he said.
The Omani Foreign Minister Yousif Bin Alawai said that March last year at the Fahd conference the gulf member states agreed to review the development requirements Yemen would come up with and work with the Yemeni government on how to implement the plans to allow gradual integration of Yemen into the GCC. “We look forward to the day when this plan and these strategies are for real and are visible in the lives of the people” he said.
The GCC General Secretariat Mr. Abdulrahman Bin Hamad Al-Atiyah praised the Yemeni culture, which he said, joined modern requirements and rich traditional heritage in a splendid homogenous way. “I was required from the previous summit in March to connect the Yemeni government with the concerned authorities in the GCC so that when Yemen is ready with its strategies and plans, the resources are provided to transform them into activities. The Yemeni government has come up with the third five-year development plan and we will review it and discuss possible interventions in preparation to the donors conference to be held in a couple of weeks.” He said.
He summarised the work of this meeting in five points: Yemen identifying its requirements and proposing a development action plan based on a comprehensive study of the developmental and economic needs of the country, then comes the preparation for the donors conference, identifying the investment programme, confirming that the achievement of this program comes from the belief that this serves the region and translating the plan into commitments and executive action plans.
“The most important issue is that government of Yemen must understand that it must work on reform in judiciary system, and reforming COCA, freedom of press, fair tenders and bids, extractive and explorative industries and investment all has to be reformed. We want to prove that we are in this project together not by the size of the funding we offer but by creating a long term partnership contract between Yemen and donor countries.” He concluded
On his part, Bajamal said that this is a transformation from neighbours to partners because the world today would not allow an individual country to join the global movement without being integrated regionally first. “We feel that we have no choice but to integrate together” he commented.
The Yemeni government has created an evaluation report on its development requirements and aims at an annual economic growth of 7.1% in order to be able to achieve the millennium development goals by 2015. These requirement need a total funding of 48 billion US dollars through a period of 10 years which means around 4,800 billions every year. This funding will be distributed among the various sectors in light of the MDGs so as to eradicate poverty, improve health and education, protection of the environment and provision of clean water and sanitation systems.
“We will focus on infrastructure, rural development, and the private sector. We will put our efforts to improve the agriculture, fishery, tourism, extractive and transforming sectors and the free zones.”
He added that the demographics of Yemen must be taken into consideration knowing that this 464 square kilometre land is inhabited by more than 21 million people and with a long coastline of more than 2400 kilometres and 333 islands.
The Yemeni government promises to reform and eradicate corruption, this is on one front and on the other front it promises to continue fighting terrorism and marinating stability and security.
The Saudi representative confirmed his country's commitment to aiding Yemen in its development journey. “All member countries showed their desire to aid Yemen's development in order to integrate it in the region.” We hope that the various parties would come together in order to push for a speedy implementation, efficiency, and lowering of costs. And Kingdom of Saudi Arabia confirms it commitment to this cause.”
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