YEMEN HOPES WASHINGTON TO RAISE DEVELOPMENT AID TO YEMEN

SANA'A, April 30 (Saba) - Yemen has expressed hopes that Washington raises its development aid to Yemen, particularly in areas of food and agriculture, renewing commitment of Yemen to fight terror.

The statement has been made in a speech delivered by Minister of Trade and Industry Yahya al-Mutawakil in an economic symposium on Yemen under the title "Improving investment environment in Yemen" organized under the auspices of the chairman of the Washington-based Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) Greg Lebedev.

Al-Mutawakil counted in his speech the major development challenges facing Yemen, topped by the security food obstacles, water resources scarcity and unemployment, highlighting the bad impacts of the global financial crisis on Yemen.

The foreign investment will assist in growing the economic rates and create many job opportunities especially among youth.

The Minister has detailed the reforming procedures made by the ministry and other governmental bodies previously, applauding the level of the US cooperation and support for Yemen's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

AF/AF