Press Release

Yemen welcomes Fund delegation
Al-Herbish pledges continued priority support

31/2005 April 5, 2005, Vienna, Austria

The Director-General of the OPEC Fund for International Development, Mr. Suleiman J. Al-Herbish, has held high-level talks with senior government officials in the Republic of Yemen. The Director-General is leading a three-day Fund visit to Yemen to discuss the institution’s cooperation and future partnership with the country.

Today, Mr. Al-Herbish met separately with HE President Ali Abdullah Salah and with Prime Minister Mr. Abdulquader Bajamal. The Fund three-member delegation was warmly welcomed on both occasions and thanked for the Fund's long standing support to Yemen, which began in 1976, the very year of the institution’s establishment.

Both the President and the Prime Minister prioritised vocational training, sanitation, agriculture, power and education as areas of special focus in the country's development plan. Mr. Al-Herbish assured the leaders of continued support, noting that Yemen was always accorded the utmost importance in the Fund’s lending programs. “Yemen’s priorities are the Fund’s priorities,” the Director-General emphasized.

The OPEC Fund delegation also met with the Deputy Prime Minister, the Minister of Labour and Social affairs, the Mayor of Sana'a and Minister of State and the Deputy Minister of Vocational Training. Extensive discussions were held with H.E Mr. Ahmed Mohamed Sofan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Planning, on the future direction of cooperation between the Fund and the Republic of Yemen.

Talks were also held with the executing agencies of the Fund's ongoing operations in Yemen in order to review progress. Field visits were undertaken to various Fund-assisted projects, including public works projects and a project being undertaken by the country’s Social Fund for Development.

To date, the OPEC Fund has extended development financing totaling over US$177 million to Yemen. This sum includes balance of payments support as well as co-financing for projects in a wide range of sectors. Yemen has also benefited from diverse grants for regional programs in the areas of health, social development and education, as well as emergency assistance for flood victims.