The Third Round of Arab Tourism Executive Committee meetings were kicked off in Sanaa on Saturday, June19 and will continue till June 21 with the participation of Arab delegates representing a good number of Arab countries. The inauguration session started with a word delivered by his Excellency Mr. Abdul-Rahman Al-Suhaibani, the Arab League Assistant Secretary General for Economic Affairs in which he shed light on the meanings of having this meeting held in Sanaa. 

The Syrian Minister of Tourism, Dr. Danho Daood, Chairman of the first round of the Arab Ministerial Council for Tourism highlighted the importance of this meeting to both private and public sectors. Dr. Danho invited every one to take part in the processes of enhancing, promoting and law-making of tourist issues pointing out that such meetings could be very useful as they bring Arab tourist officials and private entrepreneurs together to exclusively discuss ways of further promoting tourism in the Arab World. He also briefed the attendants on the growing improvement in Arab tourism referring in this regard to the increase in numbers of tourists coming to Arab countries which jumped to 6.17% in 1998 compared to 1997. As a result, revenues have also increased in 1998 and hit a growth rate of 7.25 % compared to 1997. The Arab World's share of the world basket in tourism rose to 2.9% in 1998 compared to 2.7% in 1997. 

The Syrian Minister concluded his speech by reiterating the unique assets for tourism among the Arabs who have a lot in common either in cultural and geographical or in economic and social arenas. He expressed his confidence that the term of the Third Round chaired by Mr. Abdulmalek Mansour, Minister of Culture and Tourism will record more progress and steps on the way of achieving the Arab Ministerial Council's objectives. 

Minister of Culture and Tourism Mr. Mansour, chairman of the Third Round also delivered a speech in which he referred to the sad incidents of last year affirming that such acts were alien to our society and had no relation whatever to the ethics, manners and culture of the Yemeni society, reassuring the attendants of the successful efforts of the state fight against the kidnapping phenomenon. 
He furthermore called on the Arabs to encourage tourism among their countries by providing the necessary incentives of easy movement and transportation. 
The conference's agenda was approved during this opening session. 

By: Khairiya Al-Shabibi, 
Yemen Times

Organized by the Yemeni Society for protecting Consumers, (YSPC)The first national seminar on the negative aspects and detriments of smuggling on the society and economy was held in Sanaa on Saturday, June 19 and will continue till June 21. 
The seminar was attended by Vice president, Abdu Rabu Mansur Hadi, General Hussein Arab, Interior Minister, Ali Ahmed Al-Sayagi, Deputy Minister of Supply and Trade, Mohammed Yahya Al-Haboob Head of the customs authority and many others. 

The participants headed by Dr. Mohammed Mohsen discussed t the negative impact and harms of smuggling on the national economy of the country and improvement of the national industries. 
The Vice president of the country expressed his satisfaction with this seminar and said: "smuggling today is threatening our national economy and the development of investments." 
Mr. Abdul Rahman Al-Akwaa Minister of information and Head of the YSPC said that the seminar will mainly try to highlight the negative aspects of smuggling of the economy of the country. He also briefed that the YSPC since its establishment in 1997 worked within its limited resources and in difficult situations to protect the consumer from different diseases caused by smuggled products, adding that they discovered some of the stale and expired products in the market. He also said that we should first know the reasons of the smuggling and then find out solutions for it so that we can save the society from its dangers. 

The head of the Arab Union for Consumers Protection (AUCP) Dr. Mohammed Aubaidat delivered a speech in which he expressed the efforts of the (AUPC) for supporting the Arab committees in doing their jobs of protecting the consumers. He also expressed his happiness with the role of the (YSPC) and its cooperation with the similar Arab societies to benefit from the experience of each other. Different papers on smuggling dangers will be presented during the three days of the seminar. 

Yasser Mohammed Ahmed, 
Yemen Times