Yemeni Minister: $28 Billion Needed for Short-Term Reconstruction Plans

Yemeni Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Najib al-Auj
Yemeni Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Najib al-Auj
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Yemeni Minister: $28 Billion Needed for Short-Term Reconstruction Plans

Yemeni Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Najib al-Auj
Yemeni Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Najib al-Auj

Yemen's Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, Najib al-Auj, said that the war-torn country needs a baseline $28-billion-dollar fund for reconstruction efforts over the next four years.

In the long term, Yemen’s reconstruction could run a bill as large as $60 billion for post-war restoration of institutions, stability and security.

Revamping the country’s ailing health, education and power sectors and rehabilitating city infrastructure figure high on the government’s agenda, Auj told Asharq Al-Awsat, saying the state will work to fix the general budget deficit.

Yemen’s government, for the first time in four years, had announced the budget and had it ratified by the Yemeni parliament.

“The challenge is to implement the 2019 budget. Many projects have been faltering. And state institutions are affected by the war and need to be rebuilt,” Auj noted, explaining that tremendous efforts need to be poured to get the country’s security sector back on its feet and have reconstruction processes rebooted.

The minister also pointed out that government reconstruction data indicates that the country needs an estimated $28 billion in the short term and around $60 billion over the long term.

“So far there are no field surveys or precise studies that can give a certain figure-- but as a starting point, signs show a need for a minimum of $28 billion in the short term—which runs from two and four years. After that, Yemen will need a full-fledged reconstruction which could cost as much as $60 billion in the long term.”

As for restoring the war-torn country’s international ties, Auj said that he had met with representatives from 24 international bodies and states, among which were the EU, New Zealand and Canada.

“Today, there are more than 80 European organizations that have opened offices in the interim capital, Aden. Earlier talk with the EU for reopening its bureaus in Aden are ongoing. They are studying this request and they promised to deliver our messages to decision makers,” Auj revealed.

Giving details about his meeting with Western officials, Auj confirmed relaying the importance of supporting projects related to farmers and fishermen, which represent the largest segment of the Yemeni population.

Aiding Yemen’s agricultural and farming sectors will help create jobs and give public-private sector relations a badly needed boost.



Yemeni Minister to Asharq Al-Awsat: Houthis Have Lost Nearly 30% of their Military Capabilities

This handout photo released by the US Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS) shows a US F/A-18 Super Hornet attack fighter jet taking off from the US Navy's Nimitz-class USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier at sea on March 16, 2025. (Photo by Hunter DAY / DVIDS / AFP)
This handout photo released by the US Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS) shows a US F/A-18 Super Hornet attack fighter jet taking off from the US Navy's Nimitz-class USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier at sea on March 16, 2025. (Photo by Hunter DAY / DVIDS / AFP)
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Yemeni Minister to Asharq Al-Awsat: Houthis Have Lost Nearly 30% of their Military Capabilities

This handout photo released by the US Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS) shows a US F/A-18 Super Hornet attack fighter jet taking off from the US Navy's Nimitz-class USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier at sea on March 16, 2025. (Photo by Hunter DAY / DVIDS / AFP)
This handout photo released by the US Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS) shows a US F/A-18 Super Hornet attack fighter jet taking off from the US Navy's Nimitz-class USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier at sea on March 16, 2025. (Photo by Hunter DAY / DVIDS / AFP)

The Iran-backed Houthis are in disarray over escalating American strikes targeting military and security sites, as well as weapons depots belonging to them, Yemeni Minister of Information Moammar Al-Eryani said, revealing that the group has lost nearly 30% of its military capabilities.

Al-Eryani told Asharq Al-Awsat that the recent strikes have directly hit "the military capabilities of the Houthi group, targeting mainly infrastructure related to ballistic missiles and drones, which were used to threaten international maritime navigation in the Red Sea, Bab el-Mandeb, and the Gulf of Aden."

US President Donald Trump had ordered the start of the military campaign against the Houthis on March 15, pledging to destroy their capabilities.

In the past four weeks, the Houthis have been hit by 365 air and naval strikes, field reports said. The campaign has been primarily targeting fortified bunkers and military warehouses, especially in the group's strongholds in the governorates of Saada, Sanaa, Amran, and Hodeidah.

"Our assessment, based on our field sources, is that the militia has lost 30% of its capabilities, and this number is rising as military operations continue,” Al-Eryani said.

The minister also spoke of "surprises” that will please Yemenis in the coming weeks.

Trump said Monday that the US campaign against the Houthis has been “very successful militarily.”

“We’ve really damaged them,” he said, adding that “we’ve gotten many of their leaders and their experts.”

The Yemeni Minister of Information considered the powerful strikes “as not enough to end the Houthi threat, especially since the militia is still receiving logistical support from Iran through multiple smuggling routes."

Last week, Britain’s The Telegraph quoted a senior Iranian official as saying that Iran had ordered military personnel to leave Yemen to avoid direct confrontation with the US.

Al-Eryani called for “keeping military, political, and economic pressure” on the Houthis and increasing control on the sources that provide arms to the Houthis. He also called for “supporting the legitimate forces to enable them to take control of all Yemeni territory."
Al-Eryani confirmed that the Houthis have recently suffered significant human losses at various leadership levels, yet the militias have avoided announcing such losses for fear of undermining the morale of their fighters.

Last month, Yemeni Defense Minister Lt. Gen. Mohsen Mohammed al-Daeri told Asharq Al-Awsat that the country’s armed forces and all military formations were at a high state of readiness to respond firmly to any Houthi attacks or provocations.

Al-Daeri said the Houthis bear full responsibility for the recent escalation, the imposition of international sanctions, and the militarization of regional waters, which have worsened the humanitarian and economic situation for Yemenis.