BY MAHYOOB AL-KAMALI
YEMEN TIMES STAFF
The private sector's main shortcomings have been, until recently, confined to the idea that it could not take the initiative to lead the free market and contribute effectively in investment operations and development.
It has also been criticized for not playing new roles which the state has abandoned in favor of this sector after it has adopted economic reforms.
The private sector, with all its organizations consisting of companies and establishments and financial and banking sectors, stayed clear from the policy of changing to a market economy because of the weakness of the systems.
These situations have given the public an impression that the private sector needs activation and support to be able to face challenges of its tasks.
New program
A group of Yemeni businessmen and investors have comprehended the suffering of the private sector, especially its absence from the economic effort, and have established a Yemeni council for businessmen and investors.
The council's program has pointed out the following points:
-The private sector and its organizations must understand the economic situation.
- Political and economic developments and changes that took place in Yemen, dictated certain tasks on the private sector. The state has pulled out from the policy of protection and subsidy to the free market, competition and liberalization of prices. The private sector in a position where it has to shoulder big responsibilities. Thus the need has appeared for the establishment of an entity representing the private sector within new ideas capable of playing effective part in regional and international activities.
-With expansion of business activity area, the Yemeni business sector became active in all economic, social and services activities. Economic globalization imposes on the private sector finding effective tools for coping with these changes. Hence, the founders of the Yemeni council for businessmen and investors have realized these changes impose an urgent need for establishing this council to achieve the goals set for in its program.
Economic activities
The council represents all economic activities practiced by Yemeni businessmen and investors. The council's main goals are:
-It aims at developing and expanding the private sector in development areas in integration with institutions of the state.
-It provides an appropriate investment climate.
- It aims for better guarantees for investments and freedom of capital.
-It defends the rights of the council's members.
- It upgrades the level of performance by businessmen, capitalists and investors.
-It works for creating ties and strengthen contacts with similar Arab and international organizations.
Mechanisms for achieving goals
The council has set up a number of mechanisms for realizing its objectives. Among these are:
- preparation of studies on general and special situations and their reflections on businessmen,
-periodical preparation of memorandums and working papers giving prominence to businessmen viewpoints on political and development policies,
- offering technical advice aimed at developing programs for training members of the council,
- contribution to studying the establishment of new companies and institutions,
- cooperation with local and international parties for founding a centre for businesses development in cooperation with regional and international funds concerned with funding and growth of private sector activities,
- organizing local and abroad courses and symposiums related to private sectors matters, and
- building an information base for businessmen and investors.

Serving the community
The Yemeni Council for Businessmen and Investors message is summed up with providing proper climate enabling the private sector to play its role in harmony and integration, and urging its members to carry out economic and social tasks and serving its members for supporting the private sector for backing Yemen's economy.
The council sees serving Yemen's economy through implementation of several strategies:
One is to develop and activate the role of the businesses and investment sector in achieving economic development and serving various businesses sectors.
There must be a contribution to administrative development of businesses and investment sector institutions and creating more job opportunities for the unemployed.
Another strategy is the enhancement of Arab and foreign investors confidence in investment in Yemen.
The other strategy is the creation of cooperation areas and economic integration with sectors and organizations in sisterly and friendly countries, such as joint protocols on cooperation and establishment of joint councils for the exchange of information and expertise.
The strategy concerned with developing capabilities of companies to raise rates of exports and activation of torts council in addition to supporting the government measure for joining the World Trade Organization.
The sixth strategy is to give prominence to role of the sector of businesses and investment in economic and social development before all government sectors and local and foreign organizations.
From this program it is obvious that the Yemeni Council for Businesses and Investors would prop up the role of the private sector in the ongoing local, regional and international changes.

BY YEMEN TIMES STAFF
Flex Solutions, a leading global provider of integrated IT solutions for the financial services industry, announced last week that the International Monetary Fund has selected I-Flex's flagship product, known as Flexcube, to replace its legacy core banking application and operations infrastructure to address growing technology needs.
A press release issued by the company said Flexcube will enable the IMF to streamline operations in the areas of lending, deposits, financial accounting and business intelligence. It added that the IMF has completed the fit-gap analysis and is starting implementation with a target date of May 2003.
"This will help the IMF deliver an unparalleled standard of service and offer its 184 member countries easy access to all relevant financial information," said R. Ravisankar, CEO, International Operations and Technology.
--Flex Solutions provides full multi-currency and multi-language capabilities and is the choice of more than 120 customers worldwide. It is ranked among the 15 largest software exporters in India and among the top 15 Indian software and services exporters.
--Flex Solutions is a provider of information technology solutions to the financial services industry worldwide.

The Road Ahead
BY RAIDAN A. AL-SAQQAF
r_saqqaf@hotmail.com
In good times, it is easy to ignore minor faults and problems that occur inside a business, as long as markets are growing and profits are up. Unbounded optimism makes managers and decision-makers unable to foresee possible risks, and later end up silencing any signs of bad news. Sometimes the bad news lies in hidden internal risks that increase along with profits and growth
Taking risk is an integral part of any business strategy, but understanding the pros and cons of the strategy can help control and prevent unhealthy levels of preventable internal risks which are responsible for many business failures.
Internal risks lie in more than financial risks. Organizational and operational risks may also be just as critical. Managers should initiate actions regarding possible future crises, and take reasonable measures to avoid them. Some of these can come from growth, culture and information management.
The main risks associated with a rapidly-growing business comes from the aggressive can-do environment created as a result of the rapid growth. It results in management executives raising goals and expectations of their employees. Accordingly, employees may feel extreme pressures in order to reach their goals at all costs, even if that means overstepping ethical boundaries and company policies, or gambling with business assets and reputations, all in order to enhance their short-term performance.
In addition to that, further expansions in business operations can lead to overloading the business production capacity. The result is sacrifices in quality, delay in order delivery, and a public relations disaster. To avoid this, managers should make proper plans and allocate resources in a way that keeps control over expanding operations.
Risks may also occur due to the organizational culture. Business executives, as they get ahead in their careers develop a resistance to bad news. They want to be surrounded with people who share their pride in business and exude confidence about reaching high performance goals. This results in a gap between these executives, reality, and changes that take place, especially if it is in a "the boss knows best" culture.
Internal information management is critical for minimizing risks. Employees should know about corporate strategies. Managers should also engage in conversations about strategies and strategic uncertainties with their employees.
Such engagements can raise important questions about customers, technology, competitors, markets, or anything that can change the company's way of doing business. These conversations can also enhance and support cooperation and coordination between different departments and branches. And hence, that ensures the best use of share information.

Endnote: The last thing business executives want to hear is: Watch out- risk looms! Internal risks if not controlled can be the reasons behind business failure.