News - Yemen: Yemen's Minister of Finance, Abdul-Jabbar Ahmed, has accused Saudi Arabia and the UAE of orchestrating what the “most dangerous economic conspiracy” targeting Yemen’s future and undermining its ability to achieve sustainable growth.

In a statement posted online, Ahmed said the two countries have long carried out multiple schemes against Yemen’s economy. However, he stressed that the most damaging of these is the deliberate transformation of Yemen into a permanent consumer market for Saudi and Emirati products — a strategy he described as an economic crime aimed at draining Yemen’s growth potential and locking the country into chronic poverty and perpetual unemployment.

The minister added that decades of “recklessness” of former Yemeni regimes contributed significantly to the collapse of the economic system once laid by the late President Ebrahim al-Hamdi, which had focused on supporting local production and protecting it from foreign import flooding.

Ahmed questioned how Yemenis end up “paying twice” for Saudi and Emirati imports and outlined their impact on the few remaining local factories. As an example, he explained that Saudi Arabia and the UAE purchase Yemeni fruits — including pomegranates, apples, bananas, and oranges — at very low prices, then process them into concentrates and juices with added water, sugar, and artificial flavoring. These products are later re-exported to Yemen in packaged form and sold in dollars at significantly higher prices.

“In this process,” he said, “Saudi Arabia and the UAE reap the benefits of added value and employment, while the Yemeni people pay the price twice — and thus the conspiracy continues, turning Yemenis into mere consumers of their products.”

The minister noted that while these countries freely import raw Yemeni agricultural products, they block the entry of locally manufactured Yemeni goods, accepting only unprocessed materials that support their own industries.

He warned that continuous market flooding with Saudi and Emirati goods leaves Yemen’s remaining factories under intense pressure, preventing economic growth and forcing Yemenis to seek job opportunities abroad.

Ahmed emphasized that the newly approved investment law — which includes stronger protection and incentives for local Yemeni industries — is an essential and non-negotiable step taken by the Government of Change and Construction. He said the law is designed to reverse past economic policies that hindered Yemen’s ability to grow independently, noting that all industrialized nations rose to success by protecting and supporting domestic production rather than relying solely on subsidies.

He stressed that “no country has ever industrialized without protective measures,” underscoring the need for Yemen to defend its national capital, strengthen its productive sectors, and rebuild its economic foundations.

Yemen’s economy has endured severe structural deterioration over the past decade, driven by war, blockade, institutional fragmentation, and the collapse of key productive sectors. Before the conflict, local industries — particularly in food processing, textiles, construction materials, and agriculture — provided substantial employment and contributed meaningfully to national GDP. However, years of instability, loss of infrastructure, and unrestricted import flows from regional powers have drastically undermined domestic production capacity.

Economists have long warned that Yemen’s dependence on foreign imports — especially from Saudi Arabia and the UAE — has deepened since 2015, leaving the country vulnerable to external economic pressures. These dynamics have contributed to a widening trade deficit, declining national income, and the shutdown of numerous factories unable to compete with cheaper, mass-produced goods entering Yemeni markets.