Foreign Diplomats Announce their Support for Yemen

By Faisal Darem Vice President Abdu Rabbo Mansour Hadi confirmed that the economic problem may have been the most prominent cause of the current political and security crises. He said that he stressed that point during his meeting on Monday with the ambassadors of the permanent members of UN Security Council, the Gulf Cooperation Council states and the ambassador of the European Union to Yemen. During the meeting, Hadi told the foreign officials that the signing of the Gulf-brokered initiative and its mechanism in the Saudi capital Riyadh were the first implementation steps, adding ‘’we have called for presidential elections to be held on 21 February’’. The vice president pointed out that all foreign ambassadors in Yemen, particularly the GCC ambassadors, were partners in the implementation process of the Gulf initiative and its mechanisms. For his part, US ambassador to Yemen, Gerald Feierstein said that the signing of the initiative and its mechanism ‘’will really end Yemen’s grinding crisis’’, stressing that his country would provide the support and assistance needed for applying the agreement. The Russian envoy to Yemen pointed to ‘’the need for full cooperation with Yemen, especially at this critical stage’’, calling for the establishment of a fund for the reconstruction of Yemen. The EU ambassador also called for the establishment of a fund for economical and developmental assistance to Yemen. Moreover, the Ministry of Industry and Trade announced that it intended to adopt an emergency economic plan to address the consequences of the political crisis that broke out in February. The plan, which the ministry is seeking to implement in the coming months in co-operation with international donors, especially Yemen's regional partners, includes credit financing to support the economy's public and private sectors. A source within the ministry said the proposed plan will focus on re-starting the economy, which was brought to a grinding halt by the crisis. In recent months the economy suffered significant losses and poverty and unemployment rates doubled. The source added the plan will focus on both the private and public sectors. It will support the public sector by rebuilding infrastructure and services that were damaged by acts of sabotage, especially the electricity infrastructures. It will shore up the balance of payments to offset the depletion of public resources and the lack of foreign financing. It will also support social security initiatives through the Social Welfare Fund to mitigate the impact of high prices on the poor and provide food and daily necessities to them. As for the private sector, he said the plan will provide support to industrial, commercial, agricultural, and financial sectors in order to rehabilitate production lines and add new ones. The economic plan will arrange for easy access to lines of credit from international financial institutions, in addition to providing training and job creation locally.