RIYADH TO FINANCE YEMEN

Saudi Arabia and Yemen will sign nine agreements during the coordination council meeting that begins in Riyadh. The agreements will include deals to finance water, electricity, health and educational projects in Yemen. Crown Prince Sultan, deputy premier and minister of defence and aviation, will chair the Saudi side and Prime Minister Ali Mujawwar will lead the Yemeni delegation during the 19th session of the Saudi-Yemeni Coordination Council (SYCC) in the Saudi capital. The SYCC was established in 1975. Since then it has taken a number of decisions to strengthen relations between the two neighbours. Nabeel Shaiban, head of the Foreign Aid Department at the Yemeni Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation, said Saudi Arabia would give a $40 million loan for water projects, a $50 million loan for an electricity project, a $20 million loan for Hodaidah Hospital and a $5 million loan to the colleges of education and engineering at the University of Taiz.