MALDIVES INVITES U.S. TO PARTICIPATE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 000510 SIPDIS PASS LINESA/INS FOR J.BRENNIG/N.DEAN AND EB FOR A/S WAYNE/HARTWICK; TREASURY FOR C.CARNES; MANILA FOR USADB E.O 12958:N/A TAGS: EAID ECON MV SUBJECT: MALDIVES INVITES U.S. TO PARTICIPATE IN MANILA DONOR CONFERENCE REF.: A. COLOMBO 409 ¶B. COLOMBO 301 ¶1. On March 9, 2005, Post received a Diplomatic Note from the Republic of Maldives regarding the Maldive's participation in the March 17, 2005 ADB- sponsored Donors' Conference to be held in Manila, Philippines. The following is the text of the Dipnote. Begin text: Reference: (F2) CIR/2005/14 The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Maldives presents its compliments to the Embassy of the United States of America to the Republic of Maldives and has the honour to inform the Embassy that the Government of Maldives has now, in conjunction with the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and the United Nations, prepared a needs-assessment report, and has embarked on a reconstruction and rehabilitation programme following the tsunamis of December 2004. The Government of Maldives is thankful that the response of the international community had been extremely good during the emergency relief period, but wishes to note that substantial additional financial resources are needed for the restoration of services to their pre-tsunami levels. In this context, the Ministry has the honour to draw the attention of the Embassy to a donors' meeting being organised organized by the Government of Maldives and major financial institutions, scheduled to convene at the ADB headquarters in Manila, Philippines, on 17 March 2005, at which the Government of Maldives hopes to receive specific commitments to assist in its reconstruction programme. The Ministry has the subsequent honour to invite the Government of the United States of America to participate in the meeting. A copy of the agenda for this meeting is attached herewith. The documents forming the basis of discussion for this meeting, the needs-assessment report titled (quote) Tsunami Impact and Recovery (unquote),and the supplement titled (quote) National Recovery and Reconstruction Plan - Programmes and Projects (unquote) may be obtained from the official website of the National Disaster Managements Centere at www.tsunamimaldives.mv, and hardcopies will be distributed at the meeting in Manila. As the Government of Maldives also wishes to provide the Government of the United States of America with soft copies of the reports in pdf format, the Ministry would be grateful if the Embassy could provide it with an email address to which the documents may be sent. The Ministry looks forward to receiving the names and designations of those who will be representing the Government of the United States of America at the meeting. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Maldives avails itself of this opportunity to renew to the Embassy of the United States of America for the Republic of Maldives the assurances of its highest consideration. Male, 09 March 2005 Embassy of the United States of America Colombo End Text. ¶2. Post would like to recommend USG participation in this meeting and suggests USG participants try to discuss Maldivian needs with Riluwan Shareef, Executive Director, Ministry of Finance, Maldives who gives a very impressive presentation as noted previously, and highlighted during the recent visit to Maldives by former U.S. Presidents Bush and Clinton. The Maldives tsunami reconstruction effort is extremely impressive SIPDIS and worthy of strong U.S. support.. LUNSTEAD