MINISTER OF COMMERCE AND HEAD OF THE SAUDI SIDE AT THE FIFTH SESSION OF THE SAUDI-YEMENI JOINT COMMISSION DR HASHIM YAMANI HAS HIGHLIGHTED THE EXISTING STRONG SAUDI-YEMENI RELATIONS. IN A PRESS STATEMENT HE NOTED THAT THE VOLUME OF TRADE EXCHANGE BETWEEN THE KINGDOM AND YEMEN FOLDED THREE TIME BETWEEN 2001 AND 2005 AND AMOUNTING TO MORE THAN $3 BILLION PER YEAR. WE ARE KEEN ON ESTABLISHING JOINT ECONOMIC ZONES AT THE SAUDI-YEMENI BORDERS AS WELL AS FACILITATING FLOW OF COMMODITIES ACROSS THE BORDERS, HE ADDED. ON HIS PART, YEMENI DEPUTY PREMIER FOR ECONOMIC AFFAIRS AND MINISTER OF PLANNING AND INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION ABDEL-KARIM AL-ARHABI LAUDED THE KINGDOM ROLE IN SUPPORTING THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS IN YEMEN. HE NOTED THAT THE KINGDOM DONATED $1 BILLION AT LONDON DONORS CONFERENCE IN 2006 FOR BOOSTING THE THIRD 5-YEAR PLAN IN YEMEN. THE SAUDI-YEMENI JOINT COMMISSION ENDED HERE TODAY ITS FIFTH SESSION.
