RIYADH: A delegation from the Saudi Development and Reconstruction Program for Yemen participated in the World Bank’s discussion, “Enabling jobs in fragile and conflict-affected environments: A roundtable on stimulating private investments.”
The discussion was held on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank annual meetings in Washington, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Saturday.
The Saudi delegation was led by the program’s assistant supervisor-general, Hassan Al-Attas, who highlighted Saudi Arabia’s role in strengthening Yemen’s economic stability as its largest supporter, providing more than $26 billion in development, economic and humanitarian aid over the past decades.
The event was attended by World Bank Managing Director of Operations Anna Bjerde; ministers from the UK, Belgium, Germany, Somalia, Guinea and Ethiopia; Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency Vice President of Operations Junaid Ahmad; and representatives of international organizations.
Al-Attas noted that since 2018, Saudi Arabia had provided direct deposits and grants to Yemen’s Central Bank and Ministry of Finance, including a $2 billion deposit for basic food imports, with additional support exceeding $12 billion between 2012 and 2025.
This financial aid helped to ease the Yemeni government’s budget burden, protect the Central Bank’s foreign currency reserves, provide oil derivative grants, stabilize markets, improve liquidity, and enable private sector activity, he added.
Al-Attas reviewed the program’s development experiences and lessons learned from its interventions, which are based on supporting the government sector, investing in infrastructure and human capital, and stimulating the private sector.
He added that this framework had strengthened institutions, limited the depletion of foreign reserves, and enabled ministries to implement more efficient economic and financial policies.
Al-Attas said that the program had delivered more than 265 development projects and initiatives across 16 Yemeni governorates, covering eight vital sectors, with direct supervision from five of the program’s executive offices, at a total cost of $1.145 billion.
The Saudi delegation held bilateral meetings with Yemeni Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Waed Abdullah Badhib; executive director of Saudi Arabia’s office at the World Bank Group, Suhail Al-Saeed; Estonian Ministry of Finance international relations adviser, Marten Ross; and World Bank senior adviser, Jeehan Abdul Ghaffar.
The meetings aimed to enhance international cooperation and support joint efforts for sustainable development in Yemen.
