COLOMBO PLAN: CONSENSUS ON CONSTITUTIONAL

UNCLAS COLOMBO 000666 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR IO/T, INL/C/CJ, IO/EX/OB, SA/INS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: AORC PREL SNAR CE SUBJECT: COLOMBO PLAN: CONSENSUS ON CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT ON ARREARS REF: A. STATE 61611 AND PREVIOUS ¶B. 04 COLOMBO 1800 ¶C. 04 STATE 210806 ¶D. 04 COLOMBO 1412 ¶1. This message is an Action Request -- Please see Para 4. ¶2. CONSENSUS ON ARREARS AMENDMENT: During the April 5 Colombo Plan Council meeting, poloff delivered points in Ref A, which were received with thanks and appreciation by the delegate from Thailand and the President and Secretary General of the Colombo Plan. Other member countries also expressed their approval of the USG's position to join consensus on the proposed amendment on arrears. The Korean delegate asked about the protocol for the amendment coming in to force, to which the Secretary General replied that the amendment can only be legally adopted during the biennial Consultative Committee Meeting, next scheduled for 2006. In the interim, the Secretary General stated, the Council can recommend that the amendment be put into immediate practice and call on the Secretariat to invite member countries to participate in all training programs. The Council agreed to the "immediate benefit" of the amendment and approved the Secretary General's suggestion to enact its provisions. SIPDIS ¶3. FIRST DIVIDEND: As if Mongolia knew that such an amendment was inevitable, the Secretary General presented a request by the Government of Mongolia -- which, per normal, did not have a representative at the Council meeting -- to establish a five-year repayment plan for its arrears. The Secretary General further noted that the repayment time frame SIPDIS put forth by Mongolia was less than both the USG's 10-year option and the new amendment's 7-year limit. The Council agreed to Mongolia's request for a repayment plan. ¶4. ACTION REQUEST: Mission notes, per Refs B-D, that the USG has not yet paid Colombo Plan dues for FY2005 (Year 2004/2005, in Colombo Plan parlance) and requests that a fund cite be cabled as soon as possible. LUNSTEAD