Proposed Yemen-Djibouti causeway strategically important. -expert
In a lecture at the Information Affairs Office (IAO) of Deputy Prime Minister in Abu Dhabi, Dr. Jalal Ibrahim Faqirah, Associate Professor of Political Sciences at the Faulty of Commerce and Economics of Sana'a University, said that the sea-crossing bridge project between Yemen and Djibouti has great strategic importance.
He said that the benefits of the project will not be limited to Yemen and Djibouti, as it will benefit the entire region. This will make the project among the top priorities for both Yemen and Djibouti, the neighboring countries in the Gulf and Arab peninsula, and the rest of the countries in Horn of Africa. He noted that it is a pioneering regional project that will create a wide range of opportunities related to other projects of infrastructure.
Faquira pointed out that the implementation of the project depends on the results of the ongoing negotiations between the company involved, and the parties concerned, as well as on the feasibility study.
He explained that the strategic importance of this sea-crossing bridge stems in part from the geopolitical importance of the locations of Yemen and Djibouti on the map of regional and international interactions on the Red Sea. Thus, the bridge will create a transportation corridor between the Asian and the African coasts, strengthen social and economic ties between Yemen and Djibouti, and reinvigorate the movement of the Gulf and African capitals, which will make Yemen an economic bridge between the Gulf and African investors.
This will also create a kind of organic relation between the Port of Aden and Djibouti Port, especially with the close ties linking these two zones with Dubai Port administration.
Faquira stressed that the project will also enhance the regional security, which is of paramount importance for policymakers in both Yemen and Djibouti, as the two countries are members of Arab regional system and security.
He added that the project is estimated to cost USD 10 billion to USD 20 billion, and will be implemented in two phases.
The first phase involves linking the Yemeni island of Perim to the Yemeni coast, through a bridge stretching over 3.5 Km and a land link covering 4 km into Yemeni territories. The second phase will include the construction of the main bridge starting from the Perim island to the Djibouti coast. The length of this bridge will be 21.5 km, including 13 km of suspension bridge and 8 km of girder bridge.
Dr. Faqirah also indicated that the project will contribute to Yemen's development and may lead to the establishment of integrated cities in Yemen, promotion of the villages and cities situated between Taiz city and Dhubab Port in Bab Al Mandab region, and the creation of new job opportunities, which will be a real tributary of Yemeni economy. This will also make Dhubab Port a land and sea outlet that adds to the list of Yemen's passages, he pointed out.
He mentioned that the sea-crossing causeway will also contribute to consolidating national and cultural identity for the Arab people in Djibouti, and strengthening the Yemeni role in preserving the Arabic identity of Djiboutians, through social interconnection and promotion of the level of cultural and educational interaction, especially after the conclusion of the cooperation agreement between the two countries in the field of education in 2003.
The professor said that Yemen is a virgin land for the Gulf investment projects, stating that such investments will help qualify Yemen for joining the Gulf Cooperation Council in middle term, mentioning that the GCC countries were committed to help qualify Yemen to join this grouping.
Shedding light on the background of the proposed bridge, he said that the idea of the project came after the visit of President Ali Abdullah Saleh to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in January 2007, which was aimed at developing the relations between Yemen and the UAE and activating the investment movement in Yemen.
In the wake of that visit, chairman of one of the companies here suggested to Yemeni President some ideas the company intended to carry out in Yemen, including the investment project in the Economic Integrated City the company was planning to build in the Bab Al-Mandab region that overlooks the southern entrance to the Red Sea, he said.
He mentioned that land transport occupies a distinct position within transport networks in terms of strengthening the patterns of cooperative interactions between neighboring countries, which share land or sea borders between them, such as Yemen and Djibouti. He said that transport economies, be they related to land, sea, or air transport, have long been considered both a main element of the economic policy of a state and an appropriate entrance to achieving regional integration.
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