Industry and commerce warns of Houthi bulldozing of the private sector
SMA NEWS – ADEN THE CAPITAL
The Yemeni Ministry of Industry and Trade warned, on Monday, of the systematic targeting and bulldozing practiced by the Houthis against the private sector, in addition to the national capital and the financial and banking sector.
The Yemeni Ministry of Industry and Trade indicated in a statement that “the Houthi militia has tampered with the system of legal legislation related to the economic sector and the various state resources.”
The statement indicated that “the latest of this targeting and bulldozing were the armed robbery by the Houthi militia of the headquarters of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Sana’a, and the imposition of militia and dynastic leadership loyal to it, instead of the legitimate leadership elected by members of the General Assembly of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Sana’a.”
The statement revealed the Houthi militia’s tendency to “pass new laws and amendments to the laws of income taxes, customs, commercial banks, and other laws that would impose more restrictions on the movement of trade and investment and the flow of goods and merchandise, burdening citizens with more unjust and illegal levies and deepening the state of political division.” and economy between the people and regions of the same country.
The statement warned of “the consequences and repercussions of these measures on the pillars of the national economy and their threat to the private sector, its role and position, and the economic conditions of citizens and their direct lives.”
The statement called on “the Yemeni government presidency and the Presidential Leadership Council to deal seriously and strictly with what the Houthi militia practices against citizens, the private sector, and the economic sector in their areas of control.”
The statement also called on “all international parties and international bodies and organizations to put pressure on the militias to stop this absurdity and stop distorting public life in the country, especially in its economic and service sectors, which the militias hardly stop targeting and undermining with the aim of controlling and using them for their benefit and their own project since their fateful coup against the state institutions and their constitutional legitimacy, and their armed invasion of Sana’a, and other governortes.
On the same track, the Presidential Leadership Council in Yemen, on Sunday, accused the Houthi militia of “replacing a new banking apparatus similar to Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard,” warning of the “consequential money laundering and terrorist financing activities.”
The General Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Sana’a had broken its long silence and complained that the Houthi militia had turned into a “sword wielding” the companies and the private sector, denouncing the wholesale arbitrary practices and measures the private sector was exposed to by the so-called “Ministry of Industry and Trade in the Houthi coup government.” .
The Houthi militia responded to the statement by armed robbery of the headquarters of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Sana’a and appointed a new leadership for it by force of arms, which angered the internationally recognized Yemeni government.
The Houthi militia’s storming of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry came days after imposing the so-called “price lists”, which are mandatory price lists for goods and products, as well as closing companies and confiscating goods, according to a previous statement by the Chamber of Commerce.
The Houthi militia imposes price lists for goods and products outside of any considerations related to market prices, transportation costs, or even heavy royalties imposed on the private sector in order to show that it controls the market and approves whatever price lists it wants.
