[27 October 2007]

LAHAI,  (Saba)- The expanded meeting of work team of the Gulf region, Yemen and the Middle East was held in Lahai at the headquarters of Netherlands Foreign Ministry and was chaired by Deputy Premier for Economic affairs, Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Abdul-Karim al-Arhabi.

The meeting, which was held in the sidelines of the Yemeni-Dutch official consultative meetings and started its meeting activities on Thursday, dealt with a number of issues related to implementation performance of the National Agenda for Reforms in Yemen, developmental challenges and Yemen's relations with donor countries, especially the Gulf Cooperation Council countries (GCC) and regional and international development funds.

It also discussed mechanisms of improving effectiveness of foreign assistance to serve national priorities and the government efforts being exerted to realize these purposes.

As for the Yemeni-Dutch official consultative meeting, which was co-chaired by Deputy Premier Abdul-Karim al-Arhabi and Minister of Development Cooperation of Netherlands Bert Koenders, it discussed a number of issues pertinent to activating the Yemeni-Dutch cooperation for the coming years within the framework of new policies of Dutch developmental assistance for under-developed countries, particularly Yemen.

During the meeting, al-Arhabi acquainted the Dutch side with the nature of efforts being exerted by Yemen to be able to achieve Millennium Development Goals.

For his part, the Dutch minister confirmed his government continuous support for development in Yemen, briefing the Yemeni side on the new Netherlands developmental policies, including supporting countries to achieve MDG's.

NN/YA/AM

Saba