Report: Private Sector Failed to Build Oil Refinery and More Agencies Registered

A report by the Oil Committee at Parliament indicated that the private sector in Yemen failed to establish and build one refinery in Dhabah in Ras Isa area, despite the different privileges it was granted together with the time period lasting for eight years.

It also announced that some commercial houses seek to privatize Aden Port Refinery and accused them of playing with the numbers and distorting facts for achieving certain ends.

Further, the report advised them to chase after the integrated industries and not necessarily chasing after privatizing the successful government institutions.

This comes within the frame of competition among private sector companies to invest in the oil field, which is one of the lucrative businesses in Yemen.

The General Administration for Commercial Agencies at the Ministry of Trade and Industry recorded over the first half of the current year 272 foreign agencies and 17 branches of foreign companies working in the field of oil, compared with 264 agencies registered last year.

This brings to 761 the number of agencies registered since the establishment of commercial agencies administration. In return, the administration canceled the licenses of 1020 agencies for not renewing their licenses. Some have not renewed their licenses for 10 years.

The administration's revenues of the commercial agencies during the first half of this year mounted to YR 20 million compared to YR 18 million achieved last year, with an increase of 11 percent.

Such increased number of commercial agencies is prompted by facilitated measures for the commercial or industrial registration, especially after the ministry cut down the measures to 3 instead of 12 and adopted  the one-window system, where the one seeking to register his institution goes to one institution.

Agricultural Growth Slow

Despite the growth of the commercial activities, the agricultural sector showed no growth as the number of registered agricultural agencies reached just 12 projects at total costs of YR 519 million. Still, the volume of agricultural investments are limited.

Government statistics mention that agricultural investments are limited to certain areas like Tehama, and assured that the opportunities in this sector are still open like importing the agricultural inputs, leasing agricultural equipment as well as the vet services.

Similarly, there are wide investment opportunities as for the agricultural crops and animal products linked with the industrial investment including cotton, sesame, natural plants, tobacco, vegetables, fruit and animal wealth, together with investments in chemical fertilizers and the pesticides industry.

The report also pointed out investment opportunities in the field of agricultural as for setting up of post-harvesting technology; establishing companies for marketing the agricultural products in a way that helps increase the exports and improve their quality to rival with other commodities in the foreign markets.

Farmers still complain about the inflow of the agricultural products from abroad like the American and Iranian apples, Egyptian and Lebanese oranges, Syrian grapes and other foreign vegetables and fruits which rival their domestic products, and results in local products not being wanted.

These imported agricultural products badly affect Yemeni farmers, especially during the harvest season of vegetables and other fruits as for grapes, pomegranates, and others.

The agricultural sector faces numerous challenges including the weak performance of this sector, scarcity of fertile and arable lands, shortage of water, low production and dispersion of land among heirs as well as the inadequacy of support policy for small farmers.

There is also over-demand on the agricultural resources and the imported consumer commodities as well as the insufficiency of irrigation system and rainwater harvesting.   

The Yemeni government seeks to achieve an average growth rate of 4.5 percent over the next five years through the optimal exploitation of the available resources as well as safeguarding the environment to ensure the sustainability of production and increase the agriculture-related income.

It further seeks to develop rain agriculture, water barriers and dams in order to improve the living of those working in the agricultural sector, especially, small farmers and rural area women, through increasing the vegetarian and animal production with a targeted percentage of 4.6 percent per year.