SINGAPORE'S ASIA-MIDDLE EAST DIALOGUE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SINGAPORE 000910

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/21/2015
TAGS: ECON ETRD EFIN PGOV PREL PTER SN XD XF XI
SUBJECT: SINGAPORE'S ASIA-MIDDLE EAST DIALOGUE

REF: SINGAPORE 887

Classified By: E/P Counselor Laurent Charbonnet, Reasons 1.4(b)(d)


1. (C) Summary: As part of its effort to be a bridge between
the Middle East and Asia, Singapore is sponsoring an
Asia-Middle East dialogue (AMED) in June. AMED is intended
to promote economic interaction between Asia and the Middle
East, and to provide a platform for "moderate" Muslims from
both regions to share progressive ideas. The forum will
focus on security issues, economic reform, and exchanges.
With some 50 countries involved, AMED is a positive
initiative that could advance some of our own goals for
economic reform and modernization in the Middle East. End
Summary.

A Forum for Mainstream Muslims
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2. (U) As part of its drive to expand links with the Arab
world (reftel),Singapore will host an Asia-Middle East
dialogue (AMED) on June 21-22, 2005. Senior Minister Goh
Chok Tong first mooted this dialogue last year as a "platform
for progressive Muslim voices" and to showcase the "success
stories" he found in places such as UAE, Qatar, and Bahrain.
AMED will be open to both government and non-governmental
organizations, and the GOS hopes political leaders, opinion
makers, think tank representatives, and scientists will
participate. While Zainul Arif Mantaha, the MFA official
charged with organizing AMED, characterized AMED as a Track
II approach, all participants will have to cleared by their
respective national foreign ministries.


3. (C) The GOS has two goals for AMED: to increase
collaboration--especially economic--between Asia and the
Middle East, and to provide Southeast Asia's mainstream
Muslims the opportunity to influence their brethren in the
Middle East, Zainul told poloffs. AMED will also help the
GOS understand and identify moderate Muslims. Several
regional security specialists at government-linked think
tanks have stated that AMED, along with the GOS, overall
outreach to the Middle East, reflects an effort by Singapore
to "do its part" in supporting moderate Muslims and
encouraging reform in the Arab world. According to SM Goh,
Singapore and Asia provide a different development model for
the Middle East that may be more acceptable to Muslims than
the western version. Singapore implicitly hopes its example
may reassure Middle Eastern governments they can combine
economic liberalization and growth with firm social and
political control. The GOS believes that governments in Asia
and the Middle East are grappling with similar challenges:
"how to cope with globalization, how to loosen up controls,
how to manage a population that is more affluent and wants
more say, how to maintain traditional values in a
fast-changing environment," according to Zainul. AMED will
be a platform for exchanging "fresh ideas" for coping with
these challenges and will support the reform efforts of a new
generation of western-educated Muslim leaders who are "more
enlightened" and "want to take their countries in a different
direction," he added.


4. (C) The event is open to approximately 50 countries in
Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa. It will include
ASEAN plus three, the Arab League, the Central Asian
republics, Turkey, Iran, and Afghanistan. Australia, New
Zealand, and the United States are not invited. AMED's
steering committee includes Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt, Bahrain,
Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, and Bangladesh; Indonesia and
Saudi Arabia have been invited to join and have unofficially
accepted. Singapore hopes that by including Saudi Arabia on
the steering committee it will not "work against" AMED.
Furthermore, Zainul explained that the GOS wants to engage
Saudi Arabia, which is influential in Southeast Asia, and
encourage the kingdom to see itself as part of the
international community. Egypt will host the second AMED in
2007, and Thailand has already signaled its interest in
hosting it in 2009.

Setting the Agenda
--------------


5. (SBU) There will be three main topics for the dialogue:
1) security, 2) economic cooperation, especially with East
Asia, and the ASEAN model of liberalization and economic
integration, and 3) social, cultural, and educational
exchange. There will be three concurrent panels (a la Davos)
on each topic. The three security panels will be on
political change and reform, counterterrorism cooperation,
and global energy security. The three economic subtopics are
deeper cooperation through economic agreements, a business
panel on identifying growth sectors, and a panel for the
financial sector emphasizing Islamic financial products. The
third topic will have panels on developing human resources,
science and technology (trying to introduce the idea of
technology to more conservative societies),and "tradition
and modernism." The subtext of this last panel is the role
of Islam in development.


6. (C) Comment: While its ambitious scale may make it
unwieldy, AMED is a positive initiative on Singapore's part,
and will provide a framework for moderates in the Middle East
and Asia to engage on a comprehensive array of issues.
Although the GOS is promoting AMED for its own reasons, and
does not seek U.S. involvement, AMED may advance some of our
own goals for economic reform, development, and modernization
in the Middle East. End Comment.
LAVIN