Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05AMMAN7084
2005-09-05 12:35:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Amman
Cable title:  

Jordan's TRIDE Participation Moving Slowly

Tags:  EIND EINV PREL IS JO 
pdf how-to read a cable
R 051235Z SEP 05
FM AMEMBASSY AMMAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4739
INFO RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV 3786
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM 3498
UNCLAS AMMAN 007084 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EIND EINV PREL IS JO
SUBJECT: Jordan's TRIDE Participation Moving Slowly


UNCLAS AMMAN 007084

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EIND EINV PREL IS JO
SUBJECT: Jordan's TRIDE Participation Moving Slowly



1. Summary: Jordanian Ministry of Planning (MOP) Secretary
General Maher Madadha told Econcouns and ESTHOff on August
31 that responsibility for the US/Israel/Jordan Trilateral
Industrial Research and Development Fund (TRIDE) within the
GoJ will eventually move from MOP to the Ministry of
Industry and Trade (MOIT). The combination of political
sensitivity to engagement with Israel and financial
pressures within the GoJ means Jordan's TRIDE participation
will continue to move slowly. End summary.

Cabinet Needs to Assign TRIDE to Trade Ministry
-------------- --


2. S/G Madadha said that the Cabinet needed to designate
officially the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) as the
Jordanian lead on TRIDE since industrial R&D was MOIT's
bailiwick. A motion to transfer TRIDE to MOIT was on the
Cabinet's August 30 agenda (the night prior to our meeting
at MOP). At the time of our meeting at the MOP, Madadha
didn't know if the Cabinet had approved the decision or not.

Trade Ministry Then to Request Money Transfer
--------------


3. Once MOIT has officially been given the lead on TRIDE,
S/G Madadha said, MOIT should send a letter to MOP
requesting that the latter transfer Jordan's $330,000
contribution to TRIDE, first promised in Fall 2004. Madadha
said in response to a question from Econcouns that the money
has been committed, and that MOP has the information it
needs to execute the actual transfer of funds. Madadha left
the impression that there are no financial obstacles to
making the contribution, and that once the internal
bureaucratic arrangements were set, the transfer could take
place quickly.

Planning Ministry Wants Economic Viability
--------------


4. S/G Madadha said TRIDE needs to be economically viable,
and more than a political gesture for peace. He also asked
for stronger reporting on TRIDE, saying that the GOJ needs
solid documentation of TRIDE success stories and its
benefits to Jordan. With that information, he said, the GOJ
can generate interest in TRIDE in the business community and
defend TRIDE politically. He said that this reporting had
not been provided in the past.

TRIDE Director Says Engagement, not Cash, is Priority
-------------- --------------


5. In a phone conversation with ESTHOff following the MOP
meeting, TRIDE (and U.S.-Israel Binational Industrial R&D
Fund - BIRD) Director Dov Hershberg commented that getting
Jordan to engage with Israel and the United States through
the TRIDE Executive Committee is even more important than
the cash. Responding indirectly to S/G Madadha's criticism
of TRIDE reporting, Hershberg said that TRIDE reports had
been directed to the Royal Scientific Society, the GOJ's
TRIDE liaison agency at the time. He added that at S/G
Madadha's urging two weeks earlier, he had called MOIT S/G
Oklah to discuss TRIDE. Hershberg said Oklah was impatient
to get the official clearance to engage on TRIDE.


6. Comment: Political sensitivity to engagement with Israel
and financial pressures within the GoJ mean it could be
several more months before the GOJ moves ahead with its
TRIDE participation.

RUBINSTEIN