The major problem, Yemeni markets are suffering from is the enormous quantities of smuggled goods. Middlemen from both sides smuggle goods like electronics, medicines, spare parts, perfumes and many other things and sell them in Yemen at prices less than legally imported goods. Merchants confirm that this dual smuggling harms both countries, confuses commercial exchange and affects profits of private sector. People coming from Hardh border check point told YT that middlemen smuggle qat , live stock, honey and Yemeni cigarettes to the Saudi side. Even laborers to work in the southern parts of the kingdom.
Smuggling usually takes place at night, using donkeys and cars.
Smugglers avoid custom check points at the borders. The flow of smuggled goods into the Yemeni market has effected negatively Yemeni industrialists and agricultural producers both financially and sentimentally. While the Yemeni products have no market in Saudi Arabia. When questioned, Yemeni industrial sources said that the production high cost of industrial and agricultural products doesn t allow us to export those products to the Saudi markets. And this is due to the absence of government financial support as well as the existence of primitive means of production.