Last week the Yemen Times marked its 21st year since the first issue was published on Feb. 27, 1991. We started with a weekly newspaper, and throughout the years that followed the newspaper never stopped publishing, despite some very difficult political and economic circumstances.

Today, we are proud to present the entire Yemen Times establishment. This includes not only the newspaper, now published twice weekly, but also an NGO called the Yemen 21 Century Forum created in 1998, Yemen’s first media website founded in 1997, a Family and Development magazine in Arabic since 2003, our own printing press also since 2003, Yemen Times Arabic since December 2011, the Yemen Times Research Center established in 2012, and the latest addition to the family which will be Yemen’s first independent FM radio station to be launched within the next couple of months.

Over the years we have worked with several great people, and welcomed into our team numerous young Yemeni men and women who mostly learned the craft of journalism on the job with us. Many of these people went on to work in international NGOs, embassies and oil companies, which continuously remark that a Yemen Times graduate is a good catch. Our team have been regularly head hunted because of their excellent communication skills and the professionalism they have acquired through their work with us. Obviously they were good people to start with, otherwise they would not have been part of our team.

We also were host to many internationals who through their work with the Yemen Times connected with Yemen’s media and culture. Most of them have left Yemen with a promise to return, and were amazed at how different living and working in Yemen is compared to the perceptions they had formed outside of the country.

Now as we celebrate one more year of success, and enter a new phase with the entire country, I would like to reiterate our thanks and immense appreciation to all our readers, advertisers and contributors. It has been a long journey, and judging by the look of it, we are heading towards more interesting and prosperous times.