EGYPT PUBLIC DIPLOMACY RESULTS AND

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 CAIRO 005000

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR NEA/PPD; ALSO FOR NEA/ELA, IIP/SC AND ECA/P

E.O. 12958: NA
TAGS: SCUL OEXC KPAO EG
SUBJECT: EGYPT PUBLIC DIPLOMACY RESULTS AND
ACTIVITIES (05/17/05-06/30/05)

REF: CAIRO 3792

Public Diplomacy programming in Egypt for this
reporting period continued to address the full range
of Post's MPP themes. This programming included
several media events, a lecture on American Studies,
and a workshop on USG information sources. Post also
recorded positive results from media support for the
visit of the Secretary of State, a press roundtable
with the Consul General, and key distribution of one
of Post's Arabic books translations. Summary reports
follow. Reftel is post's most recent prior submission
for NEA/PPD reporting and IIP's PD results database.

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RESULTS
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(6/28/05) MISSION PROMOTES ECONOMIC REFORM THROUGH
MEDIA COVERAGE OF USAID SPONSORED CONFERENCE
Mission press offices ensured strong media attend at a
two-day USAID-sponsored conference on economic reform.
USAID Deputy Director also participated in a press
roundtable following her speech at the conference. As
a result, positive articles appeared in leading daily
newspapers and financial dailies.

MPP GOAL: ECONOMIC PROSPERITY

(06/20/05) EMBASSY MEDIA OUTREACH SUPPORTS VISIT OF
SECRETARY OF STATE

SIPDIS

To promote the Secretary's message during her visit
to Cairo, the Embassy Public Affairs Section arranged
for over 100 local and international media to attend
the Secretary's speech at the American University of
Cairo, and scheduled one-on-one television interviews
with one local and one pan-Arab station. All
Egyptian papers, radio stations, and television
stations covered the Secretary's visit and published
or aired segments of her speech. CNN, Fox, Al
Jazeera, and Egyptian Nile News carried the speech
live.

MPP GOAL: DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS

(06/18/05) POST PLACES EDITORIAL ON TRAFFICKING IN
PERSONS IN EGYPTIAN PAPER

Despite editors' concerns about the Egypt-specific
content, Embassy Press Office obtained a commitment
to publish an editorial by Under Secretary Paula
Dobriansky on the occasion of the distribution of the
Trafficking in Persons Report. The editorial
appeared in the June 18 edition of Nahdet Misr.

MPP GOAL: DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS

(06/09/05) POST FACILITATES MEDIA COVERAGE OF VISITING
DEPUTY USTR

The Embassy's Press Office arranged one TV and two
print interviews, including one with Egypt's leading
economic newspaper Al-Alam Al-Youm, with Deputy U.S.
Trade Representative Peter Allgeier during his
participation in the Third African Union Conference of
Ministers of Trade. Al Alam Al Youm led with the
interview in its June 11 edition. The DUSTR spoke in-
depth about USG Intellectual Property Rights concerns
in Egypt and the process of reaching a Free Trade
Agreement (FTA) with Egypt, and encouraged Egypt's
economic reform process. At the end of the
conference, the DUSTR spoke to a large body of
international and Egyptian reporters at a press
conference with the Egyptian Minister of Trade and the
EU Trade Commissioner, encouraging regional economic
reforms and stating the USG position on cotton and
agricultural subsidies.

MPP GOAL: ECONOMIC PROSPERITY

(06/07/05) EMBASSY REAFFIRMS AMERICAN WELCOME FOR
FOREIGN STUDENTS

The Embassy Press Office arranged for eight Egyptian
journalists to spend an hour with the Consul General,
who drew attention to the Consular Section's special
procedures for Egyptians applying for student visas.
The Consul General reaffirmed the U.S. Government's
interest in facilitating foreigners' study in the U.S.
The discussion also included a review of the "Open
Doors, Secure Borders" policy. As a result, articles
appeared in several Egyptian dailies and magazines,
including pan-Arab Al Sharq Al Awsat, and the Egyptian
Internet news site Masrawy. These articles, in turn,
sparked interest among other media outlets, including
The Daily Star, Cairo Magazine, and Business Today,
all of whom subsequently published articles
highlighting Post's efforts to facilitate the visa
process for Egyptian students and business people.

MPP GOAL: MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING

(06/02/05) POST HIGHLIGHTS MULTINATIONAL COOPERATION
TO SUPPORT REBUILDING OF IRAQ
In support of a Cairo meeting of the Iraq Core Group,
the Embassy's Press Office arranged a press conference
for the U.S., EU, and Iraqi delegation leaders at the
end of the session. Media attendees included pan-Arab
Al Arabiya, local Nile TV, the Associated Press,
Nikkei News, the Middle East News Agency, and Egyptian
Radio. Following the press conference, Al Arabiya,
the AP, and Nile TV were granted one-on-one interviews
with the Iraqi delegation leader and, separately, USG
representative Ambassador Dick Jones. The resulting
stories were well placed.

MPP GOAL: REGIONAL STABILITY

(05/19/05) EMBASSY SPARKS INTEREST IN "THE WEALTH OF
KNOWLEDGE"

In support of Post's Regional Arabic Book Translation
Program, the Information Resource Center distributed
the recently published Arabic translation of Thomas A.
Stewart's "The Wealth of Knowledge" to numerous media
contacts and high level academics. As a result, the
prominent Sabah el Kheir (Good Morning) magazine ran a
series of positive commentaries on the book

MPP GOAL: DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS

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ACTIVITIES
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(06/30/05) POST HIGHLIGHTS PROGRESS ON SUDAN FOR
EGYPTIAN AUDIENCES

During the visit of Senior State Department
representative for Sudan Charles Snyder, Post
organized an exclusive interview with the African
Affairs editor of the widely read Al Akhbar newspaper.
Snyder discussed progress made toward a lasting peace
in southern Sudan, highlighted Egypt's positive role
in encouraging peace and development in Sudan, and
clarified U.S. policy on Darfur. After a meeting with
the Arab League Secretary General, Synder gave remarks
to several Sudanese reporters highlighting the U.S.
Government's hopes for a united and democratic Sudan.

MPP GOAL: REGIONAL STABILITY

(06/29/05) EMBASSY ENCOURAGES CONTINUED EXCHANGE OF
YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS

In recognition of the ECA-funded AIESEC "Salaam
Program," the Embassy hosted an evening of cultural
exchange for the Egyptian and American students and
the Egyptian host businesses. The reception provided
a rich opportunity for young student leaders from
Egypt and the United States to meet and exchange
viewpoints, and included a briefing on the economic
situation in Egypt by an Embassy economic officers.
Over the past two years, 13 Egyptians have traveled to
the US on the Salaam Program and 35 Americans have
traveled to Egypt to pursue traineeships in business,
development, education, and technical fields.

MPP GOAL: ECONOMIC PROSPERITY

(06/27/05) POST FACILITATES IN-DEPTH LOOK AT OPIC
GOALS

Taking advantage of a visit to Egypt by the
Communications Director for the Overseas Private
Investment Corporation (OPIC),the Embassy Press
Office organized a press roundtable with two leading
Egyptian economic reporters. The reporters - one from
a large circulation English-language weekly and one
from Egypt's most prominent economic daily spent an
hour discussing economic reform in Egypt, an OPIC
conference on North African business development
planned this September in Morocco, and USG-GOE
economic relations. The reporters will soon publish
two in-depth articles profiling OPIC's work to
advocate economic reform and investment in Egypt.

MPP GOAL: ECONOMIC PROSPERITY

(06/27/05) MISSION PROMOTES AMERICAN STUDIES WITH
UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS

Embassy Cairo, in cooperation with the Fulbright
Commission, sponsored a presentation by an Egyptian
professor following her post-funded attendance at the
Annual Conference of the British American Studies
Association in Cambridge, England, in May. The
presentation, a briefing on the conference and a
discussion of the variety of subjects included in
American Studies, was attended by an audience of
academics from the major universities in Cairo, as
well as a number of faculty from several of the
regional universities. The highly informative and
well-prepared presentation, and the lively exchange
that ensued, provided excellent support to Post
efforts to heighten interest in American Studies
within Egyptian universities.

MPP GOAL: MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING

(06/04/05-06/25/05) EMBASSY FUNDS TRAVEL OF EGYPTIAN
JOURNALISTS TO COVER ELECTIONS IN LEBANON

Using local-Embassy funds, Post sponsored the travel
of seven Egyptian journalists to Lebanon to cover the
June parliamentary elections. The print reporters
have published over a dozen articles to date, with
more planned, and the TV crew is putting together a
feature piece on the elections. Reporting highlighted
Lebanon's ethnic and religious diversity, allegations
of corruption and intimidation at polling places, as
well as the lively political debate in Lebanon. In a
debriefing following their visit, the reporters
affirmed that the opportunity to conduct first-hand
reporting on Lebanon's elections will allow them to
better cover Egypt's own presidential and
parliamentary elections later this year.

MPP GOAL: DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS

(06/22/05) AMERICAN CENTER HOSTS WORKSHOP ON THE ROLE
OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATIONS IN DEVELOPING
THE SKILLS OF HOUSEHOLDS HEADED BY WOMEN

The American Center in Alexandria, in collaboration
with the Friends of the VOA Club and El Reyada
Association for Community Development, organized a
workshop on "Role of Community Development
Associations in Developing the Skills of Women Heading
Households." The workshop attracted a diverse
audience of 65 individuals, including NGO staff, the
head of the Social Development Fund, the head of the
Doctors Syndicate, and Ministry of Social Affairs
officials.

MPP GOAL: ECONOMIC PROSPERITY

(06/14/05) MISSION CELEBRATES INDEPENDENCE DAY AND
AMERICAN DEMOCRACY IN ALEXANDRIA

In an early celebration of American Independence Day,
the Mission hosted a reception on Flag Day (June 14)
at the American Center in Alexandria that featured a
speech by the Charge d'Affaires. Alexandria
Television Channel 5 and Radio Alexandria conducted
interviews with the Charge and other guests. Articles
commenting on the program appeared in national and
opposition newspapers, while the TV and radio stations
aired clips of the speech and their interviews.

MPP GOAL: DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS

(05/24/05) EMBASSY MEDIA OUTREACH SUPPORTS VISIT OF
FIRST LADY

Throughout the visit of First Lady Laura Bush, the
Embassy facilitated extensive local, regional, and
international media coverage of all aspects of her
visit to Cairo and Alexandria. The resulting press
coverage was comprehensive and generally positive in
all outlets. Following the visit, the Embassy's
Information Resource Center extended the impact of
the First Lady's visit by distributing dossiers about
the First Lady's participation in the WEF, as well as
her visit to Egypt. These were distributed to the
diplomatic community, academics, leading business
figures, and government officials.

MPP GOAL: MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING

(05/17/05) POST RAISES VISIBILITY OF EMBASSY AND IIP
WEBSITES

The Embassy's Information Resource Center conducted an
Internet training workshop for journalists from three
newspapers and one weekly magazine (Al Sharq Al Awsat,
Al Watani, Gomhouriya, and Nusf al Duniya) that
focuses on USG information available on the Bureau of
International Information Programs websites.
Journalists were so impressed that they requested
additional, and longer, training. They were
especially curious about IIP's Identifying
Misinformation webpage, as well as the International
Events Calendar, both linked from IIP's portal page at
usinfo.state.gov.

MPP GOAL: MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING

CORBIN