Al-Attiyah briefs President Saleh on GCC Doha summits decisions

SANA’A, Feb. 03 (Saba) – President Ali Abdullah Saleh received here on Sunday the Secretary General of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Abdul Rahman al-Attiyah, who briefed the president on the outcomes of the 28th GCC’s Summit meetings held in Qatar lately. Al-Attiyah introduced president Saleh to the summit’s decisions on enhancing the relations between Yemen and GCC’s states and the adopted steps to follow up the financial pledges of London Donor Conference for supporting the development process and rehabilitate the Yemeni economy to be merged in the GCC’s economies and to accelerate the procedures to accede Yemen in the GCC. He also expressed the GCC states’ satisfaction of the advanced steps have been achieved so far in field of enhancing the Yemeni-Gulf relations, confirming the GCC leaders’ keenness on supporting the partnership with Yemen in various areas. Saleh expressed his appreciations of the GCC leaders, topped by the Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, over their supporting attitudes for the country in London Donors Conference and in joining in the GCC as well, hailing al-Attiyah’s efforts in this regard. Worth mentioning, the commitments of GCC’s states in London Donors Conference to Yemen reached 50 percent of all the financial commitments in the conference. Saudi Arabia was the biggest donor among the GCC’s states, appropriating US $ 1 billon followed by UAE allocating US $ 650 million, then US $ 500 million presented from Qatar, US $200 million from Kuwait and Oman which allotted $100 million while Bahrain presented assistances in field of technical and banking training. Around US $ 342 million (13 percent of the GCC commitments) have been appropriated so far to implement a number of projects including in the 3rd five-year plan for social and economic development and for investment program in Yemen. TD/AF Saba