PM confirms government's support to YGSMRB

SANA'A, April 12 (Saba) - Prime Minister Ali Mujawar affirmed on Sunday the
government's support to the Geological Survey and Minerals Resources Board YGSMRB to
achieve its goals and role in development process.

Opening the 13th annual meeting of YGSMRB held in Sana'a on Sunday, the Premier said
that variation of the income resources through investing in non-oil promising
sectors would increase the state's budget and would develop the local societies as
well as promoting the workers' level in those sectors.

Mujawar affirmed the major significance of mining sectors in creating work
opportunities and developing the areas of minerals resources, noting the necessity
of availing from the potentials that assist with improving the research and
explorative works, economy and development.

He added that the YGSMRB annual meeting was a chance to exchange the ideas and
assessing the implementation as well as determining the priorities to the next
period so as to enhance the YGSMRB's role in serving the state's plans aiming at
developing the minerals resources sector and its role in the economic and social
development.

During his speech, Mujawar pointed out that during the last February foundation
stone was laid for al-Jabali mine in Nehm area of Sana'a governorate as the first
mine in the modern mining history in Yemen.

The Premier confirmed the government's interest in the vital projects including the
natural stones production project already put on the table of the cabinet in its
initial draft in 2007 and its final draft would be discussed soon.

"Absolutely the development needs gathering efforts of local councils and people as
they are the fist beneficiaries from those projects", the premier said. He affirmed
backing the state to make use of the available potentials to raise the vital role of
this sector in the social and industrial development.

He directed Ministry of Oil and Minerals represented by YGSMRB to conduct more
geological studies for determining the minerals resources and working on utilizing
them.

Furthermore, during his visit to YGSMRB the Prime Minister got acquitted with
samples of stones that collected from several Yemeni areas and used for building and
decoration purposes as well as their features in shape and content.

The YGSMRB's annual meeting discusses for two days a number of papers and the
progress implementation of YGSMRB works during the last year 2008.

BA/AF