September 18, 2021
Dr. Muhammad Alawi Amzerba, Executive Chairman of YGAPC, met in his office today 18 September Mr. Auke Lootsma, the Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Program office in Yemen, and discussed during the meeting the latest developments regarding the financial deposit allocated for marine insurance against war risks and the negotiations reached by the office with the marine insurance market and the War Risk Committee on the agreement to set an Escrow Fund to reduce the war risk premium imposed on ships and goods destined for Yemeni ports. Mr. Auke indicated that if the fund is activated, the insurance can be reduced to eight times the current premium, which will represent a great savings on imported goods to the country.
The mechanism of inspection and licensing for visiting ships, which is currently being carried out through the Ministry of Transport office in Riyadh in coordination with EHOC (Evacuation and Humanitarian Operations Committee), and the requirements for transferring this procedure to the port of Aden, which is one of the most important demands to facilitate and expedite the passage of goods through the port, were also discussed.
For his part, Mr. Auke indicated that there is a great understanding from the Arab Coalition and the major countries to overcome the difficulties facing the Port of Aden, which is the main port of Yemen, through which an estimated 90% of the country's imports pass through.
The Executive Chairman praised Mr. Auke's efforts for his great activity at all levels to support the Port of Aden, including his follow-up with the World Bank regarding support for the infrastructure and superstructure of the port, according to the outputs of the Dutch experts’ report, which indicated that the World Bank recommended the need to update the master plan so as the can study the support projects included in the experts’ report.
Mr. Auke had visited the Marine Operations Department (Port Officer) building to see the preparations being made in the building to receive the Vessel Traffic Management Information System (VTMIS), which was funded by the Office with an amount exceeding US Dollars One Million which will be launched before the end of this year. He also visited the technical and engineering workshop to see the level of completion of the basic works sponsored by the Corporation, which was highly applauded. The delegation was accompanied by Eng. Abdulrab Al-Khaluqui, Deputy Executive Chairman, and Ms Salma al-Hajj, UNDP Aden Office Manager.
