KUWAIT FUND WELCOMES USG ENGAGEMENT WITH ARAB

UNCLAS KUWAIT 000883 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/ARP, EB/FO, S/I, LONDON FOR TSOU, PARIS FOR ZEYA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAID PGOV PREL ECON IZ KU SUBJECT: KUWAIT FUND WELCOMES USG ENGAGEMENT WITH ARAB DONOR ORGANIZATIONS REF: A. KUWAIT 399 ¶B. KUWAIT 087 ¶1. (SBU) On March 8, Econoff met with Marwan Al-Ghanem, Regional Manager for Arab Countries at the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) to discuss the possibility of USG participation in upcoming multilateral planning meetings of Arab donor organizations in an effort to enhance coordination and information exchange on development priorities. (Note: Per ref B, the idea of USG consultation in connection with upcoming Arab donor organization meetings was first broached during Assistant Secretary Tony Wayne's visit in January in meetings with GOK officials, including the Director General of KFAED.) ¶2. (SBU) Al-Ghanem welcomed USG informal participation at the KFAED-hosted donor conference on Iraq, tentatively scheduled for June in Kuwait following the April board meeting of the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD). However, he cautioned that conference planning was still in its formative stages, explaining that the Iraqi Transitional Government had requested the conference in order to secure funding from Arab states for Iraq's power sector needs, including the estimated $850 million power station in northern Iraq (reported in ref A). Al-Ghanem did not object to holding side-meetings between USG officials and Arab donor organization representatives in an effort to foster closer coordination and information exchange. ¶3. (SBU) Al-Ghanem also pointed to the upcoming meeting of the Coordination Group of Arab National and Regional Development Institutions (Arab Aid) as another important opportunity for USG engagement and encouraged USG follow-up with the Secretariat of the Coordination Group at AFESD. (Note: Econoff has contacted AFESD and is awaiting conference details. Arab Aid is comprised of 5 multilateral and 3 bilateral donor organizations including the Islamic Development Bank, the OPEC Fund for International Development, AFESD, the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa, the Arab Gulf Programme for UN Development Organizations, KFAED, the Saudi Fund for Development, and the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development. Additional information is available at www.arabaid.org.) Comment -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Post believes USG interests could benefit from side meetings in connection with the KFAED conference, perhaps through participation of IRMO Director Ambassador Speckhard to discuss USG assistance priorities in Iraq in an effort to enhance coordination with Arab donors. Post will also follow-up with the Arab Fund organizers regarding USG participation at the upcoming Coordination Group meeting of Arab donor organizations. ******************************************** For more Embassy Kuwait reporting, see: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/index. cfm?cables Or Visit Embassy Kuwait's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/ ******************************************** LEBARON