MUKALLA, 31 May 2006 — Yemen’s drive to join the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) will figure high on the agenda in talks between President Ali Abdullah Saleh and Crown Prince Sultan, who is expected to arrive here tomorrow, sources said.
In a statement yesterday, President Saleh said Yemen was fully prepared to join the GCC, which currently includes Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
“The GCC has set out certain conditions for Yemen to join the organization and we have fulfilled most of them. We are prepared to become an active member of the council and a strategic ally to other member countries,” said a statement issued by Yemen to the Saudi Press Agency.
Sultan will also co-chair a meeting between the Saudi-Yemeni Coordination Council and Prime Minister Abdul Qader Bajammal. The council is hoping to discuss ways of expanding cooperation in the fields of trade and investments.
The Saudi crown prince will be accompanied by a delegation of 16 ministers including Interior Minister Prince Naif and Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal, a source told Arab News.
President Saleh arrived in Mukalla, the capital of Hadramout, yesterday to receive Sultan. He met with Saudi businessmen and discussed prospects of carrying joint investment projects in various sectors including industry and tourism.
The royal visit will also witness the signing of final maps marking the joint borders of the two countries after land demarcation was completed, the sources said.
Demarcation of the 1,845-km Yemeni-Saudi border was completed in 2004 after 824 markers were put in place. Last April, both countries received maps developed by a German company marking the borderline based on a 2000 treaty that ended a long-standing dispute.
On May 16, Saudi Arabia handed to Yemen the last 13 border outposts designated as Yemeni territory by the border treaty.
The joint council meeting will discuss several issues including economic ties, efforts to fight terrorism and cross-border drug and arms smuggling and infiltration of terrorists, Yemeni official said. Large quantities of arms and explosives are smuggled to Saudi territories through the porous border from Yemen each year.
Meanwhile, Saudi and Yemeni businessmen have agreed to propose a free trade zone during a meeting here yesterday. The proposal will be presented to the joint council.
Abdullah Marae Ben Mahfouz, head of the Saudi business delegation, said the joint council meeting reflected the will of the leaders of both countries to push forward economic cooperation.
Mohammed Abdo Saeed, president of the Federation of Yemeni Chambers of Commerce and Industry and head of the Yemeni delegation, said the two sides had agreed on proposing a free trade zone to boost trade relations between the two countries.
The businessmen also agreed on establishing a joint company with a capital of SR100 million to carry out large-scale infrastructure projects in Yemen.
“Another proposal we have made is to grant open visas to businessmen to ease their movement between the two countries,” Abdo Saeed said. The Saudi side proposed that as a start 500 open visas should be issued to Yemeni businessmen.
