A GOIC delegation headed by Secretary General Mr. Abdulaziz Bin Hamad Al-Ageel visited the Republic of Yemen and held a series of meetings with Yemeni Prime Minister Mr. Mohammed Salim Basindawa, Dr. Saad Eddin Ali Salem Bin Taleb, Yemeni Minister of Industry and Trade and Mr. Abdullah Abdul Wali Noman, Undersecretary of the Yemeni Ministry of Industry and Trade for Industrial Development and Investment Affairs. The delegation discussed support to industrial development in Yemen and the fields of cooperation with GOIC to boost the industrial sector and build and develop its national capacities.
 
GOIC’s delegation headed by the Secretary General included Assistant Secretary General Mr. Mohammed Bin Khamis Al-Mukhaini, Dr. Laila Dyab Ishrair, Strategic Planning Consultant, Engineer Ismael El-Shafei, Business Development Consultant and Mr. Nasser Al-Saeed, Secretary General’s Office Director.

 

The delegation also held several meetings with major industrialists, businessmen and members of the Geological Survey Board headed by the Prime Minister of Yemen at the Yemeni Industrialists Association headquarters. In addition, meetings took place with officials from the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation and the General Union of Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Yemen. Participants discussed the Yemeni industrial sector, how to develop it and how to stimulate cooperation between GOIC and Yemen in order to boost this vital sector which promotes economic development throughout the country. Furthermore, the delegation met the GCC Office Director in Yemen represented by His Excellency Ambassador Saad Bin Mohammed Al-Arifi and Mr. Ali Bin Mohammed Al-Hamdan, Ambassador of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques to the Republic of Yemen.
 
The workshop launching
On the sidelines of the visit, GOIC inaugurated a workshop about “industrial statistics and classifications” in Sana’a, Yemen in collaboration with the Yemeni Ministry of Industry and Trade. The workshop takes place from the 24th till the 26th of June 2013 with the participation of more than 100 subscribers/staff of the Ministry and its offices in different provinces. Employees from the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO), the Customs, the Central Bank of Yemen, the General Investment Authority (GIA), the Yemeni Industrialists Association and the Tax Authority are also attending.

 

In his speech, GOIC Secretary General Mr. Abdulaziz Bin Hamad Al-Ageel stated: “This workshop is the fine outcome of the cooperation between GOIC and the Ministry of Industry and Trade in the Republic of Yemen.” In fact, the two parties are constantly collaborating in the area of industrial development. Al-Ageel commended GOIC’s efforts aiming at “studying, preparing and developing potential industrial projects such as investment opportunities in Yemen. These projects help developing the industrial sector or expanding productive sectors with a comparative advantage in Yemen.”

Al-Ageel added: “We recognise the need to develop this important sector of statistics. This is why GOIC, in collaboration with many international organisations, prepared several workshops in a number of GCC countries in order to improve the competencies of workers in the area of industrial statistics. Such workshops also aim at unifying statistical methods used in the area of industrial activities within these countries.”

 

As for this workshop, it aims at broadening participants’ knowledge in collecting, processing and publishing industrial statistics. It also gives the participants a chance to gain additional knowledge and new skills by presenting the latest advancements in terms of the international classifications used in collecting and processing industrial statistics in addition to relevant indicators and statistical report writing skills. As to the most important topics featured on the agenda, they are: the importance of industrial statistics in supporting economic and industrial decision making process, international recommendations related to industrial statistics, the International Standard Industrial Classification of all Economic Activities (ISIC), the Central Product Classification (CPC) and the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling.