Yemeni-Pakistani Joint Committee begins its 6th session in Sana'a
The Source: SANA'A/hadhramut.info/sabanews.net - 28/12/2010
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The Yemeni-Pakistani Joint Ministerial Committee started here on Tuesday its sixth session, co-chaired by Minister of Trade and Industry Yayha al-Mutawakil and Pakistani Minister of Industry and Production Mir Hazar Khan. Al-Mutawakil noted to the positive outcomes achieved at the fifth session of the committee held in the Pakistan capital, Islam Abad, in various areas of cooperation between the two countries."But when reviewing the level of implementation of what has been agreed upon in the minutes of the fifth session by the two sides, we noted that it does not live up to what we aspire to because of the weakness of the coordination mechanism and follow-up", al-Mutawakil said.He expressed confident that there are many opportunities which can be used to maximize the common interests between the two countries through joint investments.
"Yemen has a lot of investment opportunities in various productive, tourist and service sectors and has the laws that stimulate and encourage investment", al-Mutawakil said. He confirmed the keenness to develop the exiting cooperation between Yemen and Pakistan, which requires the participation of all sectors, particularly financial sector and business.
Al-Mutawakil stressed the importance of speeding up the establishment of the Joint Yemeni-Pakistani Businessmen Council, which would play a significant role in achieving the common economic goals.He called on Pakistani businessmen and investors to invest in Yemen, referring to the development achieved by Yemen in the business environment index. He indicated that Yemen was ranked 50 according to the business environment index issued by IFC, as a result to significant improvements in the climate and investment environment.
Furthermore, al-Mutawakil reviewed the developments witnessed by the Yemeni economy during 2010, which managed to achieve positive growth rates despite the global financial crisis, noting that this positive growth helped by the launch of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Yemen.For his part, Khan pointed to his country's keenness to boost the level of cooperation with Yemen in different areas, especially the economic and trade aspects. He confirmed that there are opportunities to increase the trade exchange rate between the two countries, which currently amounts to USD 100 million, noting to the need to follow up the implementation of the agreements singed between the two countries.The Yemeni-Pakistani Committee will discuss over two days the current level of bilateral relations, and assess the level of implementation of the previous sessions' outputs, and the possibility of establishing a finance company for joint works.A number of executive programs and cooperation protocols are expected to be signed by the two countries, at the conclusion of the Committee's session, in areas of tourism, oil, gas, technical education and vocational training, specifications and standards and others.
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