ERT Holds Annual Strategic Meeting in Seiyun, Affirms Support for Yemen Government Economic Reforms and Reducing the Burden on Citizens

Seiyun – 2025

The Economic Reforms Team (ERT), a voluntary initiative comprising leading private-sector figures and economic experts in Yemen, held its annual strategic meeting over two days in the city of Seiyun, Hadhramaut, to discuss the ERT’s strategy and future vision, review current economic challenges, and develop practical proposals that contribute to strengthening development and improving the economic environment in Yemen.

The meeting comes at a highly critical time, coinciding with recent decisions issued by the Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) regarding the unification of public revenues, improving resource efficiency, strengthening control over entry points, and enhancing financial transparency within the framework of the announced comprehensive economic reform priorities. It also comes amid severe economic and humanitarian conditions facing citizens.

In its press release, the ERT emphasized that this meeting represented an important opportunity for Yemen’s business leaders and economic experts to discuss recent developments directly, coordinate efforts, and present a shared vision that places citizens' interests at the forefront. Participants engaged in in-depth discussions on key economic challenges and proposed solutions, including improving public revenues, strengthening institutional governance, and enhancing partnerships between the private sector and the IRG of Yemen at both the national and local levels.

The ERT announced its full support for implementing the comprehensive economic reform package as the correct path to rescuing the economy, a reform system that must be applied as an integrated whole without harming citizens or exacerbating their suffering. The ERT stressed the following priorities:

• The necessity of unifying all public revenues in the accounts of the Aden-CBY and establishing modern electronic systems, as this is the cornerstone of national economic stability.
• Eliminating all illegal levies and fees imposed on roads, entry points, and in official institutions, as these increase costs for citizens, burden the private sector, and negatively affect prices of goods and services.
• Closing smuggling routes and combating tax and customs evasion, as these represent major drivers of corruption, key causes of state revenue losses, and sources of market disruption and unfair competition.
• Supporting the stability of the Yemen national currency (Riyal) through serious monetary and fiscal policies implemented in coordination and partnership between the government, the Aden-CBY, and the private sector.
• Ensuring regular payment of salaries for all civil servants, as this is a key entry point to stimulating the economy and reducing humanitarian suffering.
• Draining sources of corruption, strengthening accountability, and ensuring the enforcement of legal measures against entities that violate government decisions.

The ERT presented several ideas and proposals to support economic reforms related to revenues, improving the business environment, and strengthening public-private partnership, all of which would enhance the investment climate, promote economic governance, and increase transparency.

The ERT discussed several important initiatives, including public–private partnership, establishing electronic systems for revenue collection to enhance transparency, and raising awareness among private-sector actors on the importance of compliance in financial transactions.

The meeting also stressed that the private sector, as the largest employer and one of the key pillars of the Yemen national economy, understands the difficult living conditions citizens are facing. Therefore, any economic reforms that do not place citizens at the center will not produce tangible results. The ERT emphasized that reform efforts must be focused in ways that directly improve Yemeni citizens’ lives and living standards.

Ahmed Bazara, Chairman of the Economic Reforms Team (ERT), stated:
“Our meeting today in Seiyun carries an important message: under these difficult circumstances, everyone must work together to develop economic solutions that respond to people’s needs. We at the private sector reaffirm our support for economic reforms announced by IRG of Yemen and call for strict implementation of decisions related to unifying revenues, controlling entry points, and eliminating illegal levies and fees that have weighed heavily on citizens and negatively affected the investment climate. We stress the importance of creating an environment conducive to development and investment.”

For his part, Areif Al-Zubaidi, Chairman of the Seiyun Chamber of Commerce and Industry, welcomed the meeting, saying:
“We believe economic reforms are an urgent necessity, and that government–private sector partnership is the path toward real economic stability and improving citizens’ lives.”

The ERT also called for practical and urgent steps to address living conditions, stressing that continued economic deterioration and expanding humanitarian suffering benefit no one. It noted that strengthening governance and transparency is the essential entry point for any successful reform process capable of rebuilding trust and laying the groundwork for sustainable economic reforms in the country.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the Economic Reforms Team (ERT) affirmed that the coming phase requires strengthening genuine and effective partnership among all development actors. The ERT emphasized that it will continue performing its role as a voluntary initiative of business leaders and economic experts, including heads of major chambers of commerce in the Yemen’s key governorates, various business organizations, and economic specialists, to present initiatives that help improve the business environment, stimulate investment, and enhance transparency, thereby contributing to supporting peace and economic development in Yemen.

Secretariat of the Economic Reforms Team (ERT)
WhatsApp: +967736500078