IRELAND EXPANDS LINKS THROUGH PM AHERN'S ASIA TRIP

UNCLAS DUBLIN 001606

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL ETRD EINV PHUM
SUBJECT: IRELAND EXPANDS LINKS THROUGH PM AHERN'S ASIA TRIP

REF: HANOI 2795


1. (SBU) Prime Minister (Taoiseach) Bertie Ahern's October
7-16 visit to Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, and Bahrain was
an opportunity to pursue new diplomatic, commercial, and
humanitarian links for Ireland in the region, according to
Irish Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) officials who spoke
with emboff. The officials said that Ireland's status as a
small, open economy, dependent on trade and foreign direct
investment, mandated this form of international outreach. On
the diplomatic front, Ahern announced on the margins of the
October 8-9 Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Hanoi that Ireland
would open an embassy in Vietnam and include the country in
its overseas development program. In Ho Chi Minh City, Ahern
opened the Christina Noble Center, an Irish charity for
disadvantaged children. In Malaysia, Singapore, and Bahrain,
Ahern promoted Ireland as a foreigner-friendly gateway for
Asian investment in Europe. DFA officials noted that while
no trade deals were signed, Ahern seeded the ground for
commercial agreements involving the expat Irish business
communities in those countries. More generally, the stops in
Malaysia and Singapore offered chances for Ahern to compare
the lessons of Ireland's Celtic Tiger economy with his
counterparts' Asian Tiger experiences.


2. (SBU) The DFA officials pointed out that human rights had
also featured on Ahern's agenda, as the Prime Minister
reported during his October 20 briefing on the trip for the
Dail (Parliament). Ahern told the Dail that he had
criticized Burma's ASEM representatives for not having made
"a semblance of progress" and for having "broken their
promises" regarding political reforms, human rights and
fundamental freedoms. Ahern also recounted that "listening
to the responses of their representatives, it appears that
they do not accept any of the criticisms of the rest of the
democratic world." Ahern informed the Dail that GOI plans to
establish diplomatic relations with Burma were on hold, due
to the Burmese Government's failure to release Aung San Suu
Kyi (ASSK) from house arrest. (In April, during Ireland's EU
presidency, the GOI had made known its plans to exchange
ambassadors with Burma on a non-residential basis under
certain conditions, including ASSK's release.)
KENNY