UN General Assembly
1978

127. At the end of last November the first international economic Conference to discuss the five-year development plan of the Yemen Arab Republic was held in San'a. Our delegation wishes to express its thanks and gratitude to Mr. Kurt Waldheim, the Secretary-General, and to the United Nations family for their participation and cooperation in making the Conference a success. 128. It is the view of our Government that development should have top priority. From the day stability was attained in 1970 after eight years of suffering and disturbances, all our efforts have been geared to the elimination of economic and social setbacks. With this goal in mind, all available human and material resources and potentials have been marshalled for development. In 1973 we decreed the three-year development programme as the starting-point for a new phase based on planning for future development. That programme resulted in an annual growth rate of 12.6 per cent in the gross national product;