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.

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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/
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LEBARON