Studies & Economic Media Center demanded the Yemeni government headed by Dr. Ahmed Obaid bin Daghar to break the monopoly of internal goods transport in the interim capital Aden, where the heavy transport union imposes inflated prices up to 400% of the real prices of the transportation.
The Center said this is one of the main reasons for the increasing prices of commodities coming through Aden port and that many traders and importers selected alternative ports, pointing out this action deactivates Aden port as a major Yemeni port and also deprives the government and the state's public treasury of large sum of money.
The Center expressed its appreciation for the recent efforts by the local authority leadership and the port management in Aden to overcome the difficulties and activate the port.
On the other hand, the Center demanded the Houthi group and Saleh controlling most of the northern provinces to cancel the actions of re-imposing customs duties on goods upon entry to Sana'a, which raises the prices of these goods and holds citizens additionally unaffordable burdens and fees due to the deteriorating economic situation in the country.
The Houthi group and Saleh are still controlling the Hodeida port and collecting its revenues, which are the highest so far in the Yemeni ports.
The Centre indicated many obstacles that limit goods flowing into Yemen in most ports under the control of the government and the Houthi group and Saleh, one of them is that the importers were asked to pay customs duties in cash in the maritime ports of Yemen, causing the the constant loss of trust in the Yemeni banking sector, and thus the liquidity crisis of the Yemeni riyals continues in addition to imposing the illegal fees in the security points while transporting between cities.
The Center stressed the need to raise the operational efficiency of the Yemeni ports, unify customs and tax tariff, adopt the competition according to service delivery principles and facilitate procedures for the clients of those ports.
The Center also demanded to support steps pursued by the local authority of Hadramout to develop Mukalla port and increase its capacity to receive containers, pointing out that these strategic steps will fund the Hadramout economy and create the appropriate land to attract trade and investment movement.
SEMC is a non-governmental organization that works towards a transparent and successful Yemeni economy by boosting awareness of economic and developmental issues, bolstering transparency and good governance and creating professional media.