Yemen has said that it needs $ 44 billion to implement its fourth five-year economic and social development plan for 2011-2015 and urged donors to release their pledges made during the 2006 donor conference in London.
The announcement was made on the sidelines of the first meeting of Friends of Yemen Group which started on Monday in the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi.
Deputy Minister for Planning and International Cooperation Hisham Sharaf affirmed Yemen's ability to absorb the funds.
The main purpose of the first meeting of Yemen's friends, a group announced during the January 27 summit on Yemen in London, was aimed at finding ways to boost good governance and national development in Yemen.
Twenty countries are taking part in the two-day meeting including Britain, the U.S., Germany, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Egypt, Spain, the Netherlands, Turkey, Russia, and France and concerned regional and international cooperation.