JEDDAH, 20 June — The Saudi-Yemeni Coordination Council, which is scheduled begin a meeting in Sanaa today, will discuss ways of strengthening political and economic cooperation as well as the establishment of a free trade zone between the two Arab neighbors.
Prince Sultan, second deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, will head the high-level Saudi delegation to the meeting, according to a Royal Court statement yesterday. He will also meet with President Ali Abdullah Saleh during his three-day stay in Yemen.
The Saudi team includes Interior Minister Prince Naif, Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal, Prince Turki Al-Faisal, director of intelligence, Commerce Minister Osama Faqeeh and Information Minister Dr. Fuad Al-Farsi.
Ismail Abu Dawood, president of the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry, said the meeting would discuss problems that hinder commercial exchange between the two countries and the establishment of a free trade zone. He said the chamber would organize a seminar on economic and trade relations and an industrial and consumer products exhibition alongside the session.
According to Al-Riyadh Arabic newspaper, Prince Sultan and President Saleh will open the Saudi show in Sanaa tomorrow. About 120 Saudi companies and industries will take part in the five-day show.
Yemeni Prime Minister Dr. Abdul Qader Bajammal said the meeting would discuss setting up of several development projects in his country with Saudi assistance. Saudi Arabia has offered $300 million in soft loans to Yemen for building roads, power plants and training centers.
He said investment by Saudi businessmen in Yemen in the past one year had crossed $600 million. After the signing of the historic border treaty in June last year, Saudis have invested $400 million in an oil refinery in Mukla, $100 million in a hospital project in Sanaa and $100 million in a cement factory elsewhere in the country.
“We will make use of every opportunity to promote our relations,” the Yemeni prime minister told Al-Madinah Arabic newspaper, referring to the second council meeting after signing the border accord. The coordination council met in Madinah last December for the first time in a decade.
“We want to develop a real partnership with Saudi Arabia by strengthening cooperation between the two peoples and promoting joint ventures,” Bajammal said.
The June 12 border accord that ended a six-decade-old border dispute had cleared the way for the Madinah meeting.
Meanwhile, Saleh Al-Hussaini, undersecretary at the Ministry of Industry and Electricity, arrived in Sanaa yesterday heading a delegation to the Saudi-Yemeni Business Council meeting this weekend.
Abdullah Ali Al-Senaidar, chairman of the Federation of Yemeni Chambers, said the meeting would discuss prospects of setting up a number of new projects, particularly in agriculture and tourism, with a total investment of $700 million. He said Yemeni law offers many incentives and facilities to encourage Saudi businessmen to invest in the country.
