[28/July/2010]

SANA'A, July 28 (Saba)-The British Minister of State for International Development Alan Duncan announced on Wednesday allocating £ 50 million by the British government as a regular annual grant to Yemen.

In a joint press conference held in Sana'a along with Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Abdul Karim al-Arhabi, the British minister affirmed his country's keenness to keep its full support to the development and reforms in Yemen. He noted to the achievements made by the Yemeni government in this regard.

Duncan revealed efforts made by his country's government to mobilize international support to help Yemen to overcome the challenges facing the process of development and stability, indicating that the UK contacts in this regard with all donors including the GCC countries.

He expressed his country's understanding on the nature of the challenges facing Yemen, noting that preparations are being made to hold a ministerial meeting of the Group of Yemen Friends under the chairmanship of the UK, which would discuss the operational concepts to support Yemen to face the challenges, as that it is an absolute priority on the agenda of the meeting.

For his part, al-Arhabi commended the contributions of the British government to support the process of development and reforms in Yemen, pointing out that the UK is the first bilateral donor to Yemen.

He noted that Yemen and Britain were engaged in a ten-year partnership agreement, which is the first agreement signed by the British government with an Arab country in the region. He added that this reflects the advanced level of bilateral cooperation frameworks between the two countries.

Al-Arhabi pointed out the importance that Britain and donor nations play more effective role in supporting the development efforts and reforms in Yemen, confirming the existence of a common Yemeni-British keenness to boost the areas of bilateral cooperation.

BA

Saba