www.yementimes.com Hayel Saeed Anaam Group and the Egyptian Orascom Company signed an agreement for the development of a tourist project on the Yemeni island of Kamaran located in the Red Sea on May 21. Signed in Hudeidah, the project is estimated to involve an investment of $350 million during the first phase and costs will run to a total of$500 million for the life of the project.

Involving the construction of a number of resorts and hotels, the scheme also entails the creation of infrastructure and other essential services for the inhabitants of the island as well as job creation opportunities. The project envisions job creation at the airport, the sewage network, and at the stadium.

The agreement was signed by the Nabil Al-Faqieh, Yemeni Minister of Tourism, and the regional director of the Hayel Saeed Anaam Group based in Cairo, Mahfoudh Ali Mohammed Saeed, as well as by Sameeh Sarawis, the director of the Orascom Company. The signing ceremony also was attended by the president of the General Authority of Development and Tourism, Mutahar Taqi, and Abdeh Naji Al-Salawi, the deputy of the Authority, and Ali Mohammed Saeed Anaam, chairman of the board of directors of the Hayel Saeed Anaam Group.

The island of Kamaran possesses all the ingredients for a prosperous tourism industry as it captivates visitors with its rich environmental diversity and amazing marine life. Kamaran, or Two Moon, Island is set on luscious landscape with a green carpet covering its soil making the island seem as if it is floating on the Red Sea. Mangroves surround the island in the north and one can find deer and camels pasturing on its verdant grass.

The island provides the tourist with the possibility in engaging in a wealth of activities such as scuba-diving, fishing, snorkeling among the coral reefs, dolphin-watching, and swimming. Tourists who visit the island usually express astonishment at the variety of places to visit and things to do. One of places that one must visit is the village of Makram where they can spot beautiful buildings and pleasant people. Evidence of heightened government attention to the island is visible in the new infrastructure and better education offered.

Perhaps more pleasantly, tourists may glimpse fishermen plying the waves at sea searching for fish. Some may be amazed at the number and sizes of whales caught, in addition to the myriad fish species. Even the fishermen are lucky and have decent fisheries to exploit, many fishermen might express their hopes to better exploit the vast fishing grounds Yemen possesses through marketing techniques and increased export abroad. Inhabitants of the island often complain of the dangers of unplanned fishing by Egyptian and other foreign fishing vessels sailing around the islandأ¢â‚¬â„¢s shores, and in the process, sometimes destroying the coral reefs that form the protective environment for fish to grow.