Crown Prince Sultan, deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, will chair the Saudi side and Prime Minister Ali Mujawwar will lead the Yemeni delegation during the 19th session of the Saudi-Yemeni Coordination Council (SYCC) in the Saudi capital.

Nabeel Shaiban, head of the Foreign Aid Department at the Yemeni Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation, said Saudi Arabia would give a $40 million loan for water projects, a $50 million loan for an electricity project, a $20 million loan for Hodaidah Hospital and a $5 million loan to the colleges of education and engineering at the University of Taiz.

A preparatory meeting for the SYCC was held in Riyadh on Wednesday, which was co-chaired by Muhammad Al-Hudaithy, adviser at the Royal Court, and Hisham Abdullah, Yemeni deputy minister for planning and international cooperation.

The meeting was attended by senior officials from both countries including Saudi Ambassador to Yemen Ali Al-Hamdan Deputy Minister of Commerce and Industry for Foreign Trade Abdullah Al-Hamoudi and Muhammad Al-Muqaiteb, deputy commerce minister for central services, Yemeni Ambassador Muhammad Al-Ahwal, Deputy Finance Minister Omar Yaaqub and Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Salim Salman.

The SYCC was established in 1975. Since then it has taken a number of decisions to strengthen relations between the two neighbors. During the SYCC meeting in 2000, Saudi Arabia agreed to provide a $300 million soft loan to Yemen to finance a number of development projects in the country. In 2004, the two countries signed 11 agreements to expand cooperation in the fields of economics, investment and tourism.

The SYCC meeting follows talks between Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh and Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah on Tuesday. It is the first meeting of the council after the Yemeni infiltrators attacked a Saudi border post three months ago. Saudi Arabia later took military action to repel the intruders.

Yemen is seeking foreign aid to finance its development projects. A Yemeni diplomat said his country hopes to raise $40 billion from international donors for its 2011-2015 economic development plan. In a 2006-2010 plan, GCC countries contributed $3.7 billion of $5.7 billion granted by international donors.

“International assistance is crucial for Yemen as it will help foster reforms and the development of its fragile economy to address grievances that are at the heart of its instability,” the diplomat said. About 35 percent of Yemen’s 23 million people live in poverty.

“Saudi Arabia is the GCC’s most influential member and Yemen’s closest neighbor. We hope that it will lead by example and use its influence within the GCC to assist our country,” the diplomat said. “This will prove crucial not just within the GCC but also with other international donors to deliver on their commitments made toward Yemen,” he added.