YEMEN, FRANCE SIGN TWO COOPERATION AGREEMENTS

SANA'A, Oct. 24 (Saba) - Yemen and France signed here on Saturday
two cooperation agreements in fields of financing small enterprise
and supporting agricultural training and research in Yemen.

Under the first agreement, French Social Fund for Development (SFD)
provides € 700,000 for funding development projects to improve
women's conditions.

The SFD has granted Yemen € 1,000,000 allocated to support 18
projects and 90 non-governmental organizations.

The second agreement is stipulated to provide an amount of YR
35,000,000 for supporting and rehabilitating agricultural
researches. A part of the sum is a government funding.

The agreement aims to enhance the role of the agricultural
vocational and technical institutes in Yemen as well as to develop
researches in fighting Dubas bugs that affect palms in Hadramout
governorate.

The first agreement was signed by Deputy Prime Minister for Economic
affairs and Minister of Planning and International Cooperation
Abdul-Karim al-Arhabi and the French ambassador to Yemen Joseph
Silva. The other agreement was signed by al-Arhabi and Minister of
Technical Education and Vocational Training Ibrahim Omar Hajri along
with the French ambassador.

FJ/AF