Kuwaiti Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah as an experienced and most distinguished, well-rounded leader, said the Yemeni Foreign Minister.Minister Abubaker Abdullah Al-Qurbi also made the remark that Arab action should not solely focus on political action, which was often the root of divide within the Arab region.The official said there is much more to concentrate on in social and development issues which stand to considerably impact the economy and its trends.There are great examples of now strong world blocs which were brought together by agreement and focus on economic and development issues, such as the European Union and the Southeast Asian bloc, he further stressed.As His Highness stressed time and again on human and overall development, we, too, believe people would stand taller and stronger against their enemies through better development of their countries.As we are occupied by concern for Gaza reconstruction, he pointed out, it is important we make sure the funds allocated are properly managed and channeled to achieve such development.It is very wise that a single clear mechanism organizes allocation of funds for different projects and oversees spending, the official concluded, based on remarks that funds set aside for reconstruction of Lebanon back in 2006 were not managed properly."We must not allow this reconstruction project be kidnapped by a single Palestinian faction wanting to claim the honor and credit ... The majority of victims of the aggression on Gaza were civilians with no political affiliation to Hamas, Fatah, or any other party," he said.On the Kuwaiti Amir's recent donation of USD 500 million in support of small and startup projects in the Arab region, the minister said this is in line with the state's non-wavering focus on building for the future and moving forward.On the oil sector and the current global financial crisis, the Yemeni official said losses in this area could be compensated for through long-term strategic planning.Yemen, he added was affected by the drop in oil prices, as the state gets 70 percent of its revenues from oil.Yemen's oil production also went down 40 percent over the last two years, further complicating the problem.The main concern now, however, is that the financial crunch affects Gulf donor countries hard enough to affect their contributions to Yemeni development projects.The state received 2.7 billion from these donors in 2006 for the current 5-year plan and is now concerned over the new 5-year plan's financing, Al-Qurbi said.Back to oil, the minister said the drop in output was due to depletion of operated fields, with others also near point of depletion. New fields and wells are still to pump out and compensate, he said.Asked whether the state eyes agreements and exploration licenses with leading oil corporations, he said his country began to get enough attention in this area only recently and added there are Kuwaiti companies operating in this sector.As means to bolster the region's economic standing, the minister suggested further integration between Yemen and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries.
This is to the benefit of both parties, the minister argued. Building GCC plants in Yemen instead of GCC countries, for example, would avail them of the great numbers of workers available, cut costs of importing labor, and also check the negative social effects of the population imbalance due to reliance on foreign workers.The minister also referred to Arab projects like the Common Arab Market and pointed out some countries stand to be negatively affected unless measures are provided to give their products some form of competitive edge to go against stronger products. This is the case with Yemeni and stronger Kuwaiti and Saudi products, Al-Qurbi argued.The minister also addressed the issue of Yemen joining the GCC bloc, saying it makes sense on many levels.Politically speaking, it shares the same security concerns; socially, it has the same development concerns; economically, it has an abundance of human resources and natural resources as well as a geographically strategic location, the minister concluded, which all leads in this direction.