[06/September/2008]

SANA'A, Sep. 05 (Saba)- The World Bank urged Yemen to apply institutional separation between bodies organizing foreign investments and those propagating for them and to apply stable and concentrated process reforms for improving investment climate.

A final report prepared by WB's Consultative Office for Foreign Investments Services has called for applying national strategy propagating for foreign investments sponsored by General Investment Authority (GIA), London based al-Hayah Newspaper reported.


The report indicated that the Yemeni authorities have issued investment law No. 22 in 2002 and contains financial privileges for encouraging foreign investments and grants GIA wide authorities for facing shortages in regulative and bureaucratic fields.

The report said that it was expected from the country to have measures attracting foreign investors but Yemen has failed to achieve its aims in field of foreign investment because financial resources did not restore faults in policies or regulative areas.

International Funding Corporation's Director of Business Environment in Middle East Area Franck Sader highlighted efforts achieved by the Yemeni government in creating factors of law and legal environment attracting investments. He also highlighted reforms made on tax and income law and easing measures in trade and investment dealings.

Head of the experts team who prepared the report Yousef Batabita said that Yemen was numbered 140 in the international list concerning performance of attracting foreign investments, highlighting advantages of Aden Port's Geographical location for the four past decades.

He stressed the importance of going on in carrying out the project of improving Yemeni Port Cities, expecting that the forthcoming years would witness touchable improvements in investment capabilities in Yemen.

MA