Transport ministry continues dialogue with international insurance companiesYemenia gets a boost [Archives:2003/640/Business & Economy]

Mahyoub Al-Kamaly
Yemen's cabinet has approved an increase to capital of the Yemeni Airlines Company (Yemenia), beginning from the fiscal year 2004. Yemen would pay $20 million of the percentage of the increase as it owns 51% of the company and the Saudi side would decide for itself defining its share according to its 49% of share in the company. The cabinet also discussed the problems resulted from11 September events' impact and the regional developments on the company's performance.
This development comes in a time the council of ministers also approved re-scheduling the company's debts for the government to the first of January 2005 and tackling conditions of surplus labor in it so as to lessen its burdens and operate in a better capacity, confirming preserving rights of the employees whose situations are to be tackled.
Yemen had announced that the events of 11 September in the United States and the terrorist acts against the French oil tanker Limburg at one of Hadramout ports had inflicted heavy damage on the economy exceeded one billion dollars losses till the end of last year.
Yemenia has suffered tremendously from that consequences of the 11 September attacks and the war on Iraq as both events affected its trips leading to a downfall in revenues and therefore asked for governmental assistance to confront the new circumstances.
The company has taken some alternative treatments by starting new flight lines to Somalia and some capitals in south-east Asia and Europe, but that was not enough to compensate for the huge losses.
The cabinet promised to discuss the problems during the meetings of the Yemeni-Saudi coordination council that were postponed to the first week of coming July. Meanwhile the Ministry of Transport decided to follow up its dialogue with insurance companies in London to reach a final decision on the question of reducing insurance premiums. Yemen had agreed with world insurance companies to carry out a survey to Yemeni ports to be acquainted with security measures and propose what is to be done to deal with any possible violations.
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