ANGOLAN TRANSPORT MINISTER DISCUSSES PLANES, TRAINS AND

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 LUANDA 001210 SIPDIS SENSITIVE, SIPDIS STATE FOR AF/S; EB/IFD/OMA and EB/CBA JOHANNESBURG FOR USFCS and USTDA CAPETOWN FOR USFCS DEPT PLS PASS EXIM BANK DOT FOR CONNIE HUNTER E.O. 12958 TAGS: ETRD BEXP EAIR EFIN AO SUBJECT: ANGOLAN TRANSPORT MINISTER DISCUSSES PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES LUANDA 00001210 001.2 OF 003 BUSINESS SENSITIVE - NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION REF: Luanda 1197 ¶1. (U) This is an Action Request. TDA, EB and AF/S please see para ¶13. ¶2. (U) Summary. Angolan Minister of Transportation Andre Luis Brandao and the GRA are pleased with the arrival of the Boeing jets to Luanda. While interested in US quality locomotives for purchase for the Angolan rail system, Brandao appeared frustrated at the lack of USG-backed financing available for rail systems. Finally, he requested USG help in providing technical assistance in developing a strategic plan for Angolan highway expansion and for technical capacity building in highway safety and hazardous spill clean-up. End Summary. ¶3. (U) Coincident to the arrival of the five Boeing jets, Ambassador Efird and P/E Chief met with Angolan Transport Minister Andre Luis Brandao on November 9, 2006, to discuss developments in civil aviation; plans for rehabilitation of the national rail lines; to formally advocate, as requested through a USDOC advocacy request, on behalf of General Electric's bid to rehabilitate locomotives, and to discuss plans for the reconstruction and expansion of the Angolan highway network. The Boeing planes' arrival is detailed in reftel. -------------- -------------- Boeing Purchase - A Catalyst in TAAG Modernization -------------- -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Minister Brandao commented on how pleased Angola is to receive the new planes on its Independence Day. He added the Angolan National Airline had always flown Boeing and planned to maintain that tie. He noted the last 737 will arrive in early 2007, allowing TAAG, the national airline, to expand operations dramatically. In addition, he discussed the September ouster and replacement of TAAG's board of directors, noting that the old administration had concentrated just on the new purchase and not on the company restructuring necessary to accommodate the maintenance and servicing of the additional planes and its expanded flight plans. (Note: Angolan Finance Minister Pedro de Morais had held up the sale for several months pending a restructuring plan what would make TAAG profitable. Implementation of the plan has been delayed by threatened labor actions in response to required layoffs.) Brandao added that under the old TAAG direction, there were no flight crews in place and the technicians "couldn't have managed to fix a flat tire if one had occurred." Brandao said the new board had concentrated on remedying this situation and while there were still some kinks to be worked out, he hoped the planes would be flying by the end of the week of November 12th. He said the GRA would like to take advantage of Boeing's expertise to discuss further restructuring of TAAG operations. He also noted that it was important for Angola to focus on Open Skies, noting that Angola could follow the Cape Verde experience. ¶5. (U) Ambassador Efird commented Boeing was not only selling aircraft but providing significant technical assistance as well, including evaluating the safety of all the airports in Angola in conjunction with its sale in moving towards Safe Skies. She noted other assistance and other training Boeing was providing as well. Brandao said that the GRA had issued contracts to begin rehabilitating all the airports in Angola and had stepped up its technical training. Ambassador Efird urged the Minister to continue to work on necessary security upgrades with the Embassy, Boeing, Connie Hunter of DOT and TDA. -------------- --- Rehabilitating Angola's War-Damaged Rail System -------------- --- ¶6. (SBU) Ambassador Efird then raised the rehabilitation of the railways in Angola, strongly advocating on behalf of General Electric and its bid to overhaul twelve locomotives for the Luanda and Mocamedes Railways and to modernize twenty-one locomotives for the Benguela railway. (Note: Mocamedes is the railway running through the southern provinces of Angola.) Minister Brandao said the GRA had already purchased some locomotives from India for the Mocamedes line and from China for the Luanda line on a trial basis. He said that the GRA believed the US-made locomotives and engines were of high quality but in this case, after initial interest, GE had not followed up on negotiations for the sale. (Comment: GE formally filed an advocacy request for Embassy Luanda assistance in promoting its bid for overhaul of Angolan locomotives. GE has made several visits to Angola and recently hosted a large exhibition of LUANDA 00001210 002.2 OF 003 projects and services of many of its divisions.) ¶7. (SBU) The Minister raised the issue of financing for the railways, noting that he had spoken to EXIM Board Member J. Joseph Grandmaison when Brandao was in the U.S. in September. He said that Grandmaison told him that EXIM was not yet able to negotiate with the GRA on financing, pending a satisfactory arrangement on GRA Paris Club arrears. Ambassador Efird asked if the Brazilian line of credit could not be used for this project since GE would do some of the actual overhaul work in Brazil using US components. Brandao responded that the Brazilian line of credit has been used up for this year, and wouldn't be available for this deal. (Note: There had been discussion of sourcing some work and parts through the US company's affiliate in Brazil in order to avail itself of the Brazilian government line of credit. Coincidentally, the Brazilian Embassy announced on November 13, 2006, that the line of credit had been increased from USD 580 million to USD 750 million for 2006-2008. End note.) Brandao commented that when a company is really interested in securing the deal, it finds creative ways to offer commercial financing packages. In a meeting November 13, 2006, Ambassador Efird informed the Brazilian Ambassador in Luanda that she was working on this commercial opening that would benefit workers in both countries to which he expressed his gratitude. ¶8. (SBU) Ambassador Efird reminded Minister Brandao that US companies are great corporate citizens, also providing development and technical assistance to the GRA and people of Angola. She emphasized the training and supervisory skills the US company would provide for the GRA as part of its proposal and the potential for future technical assistance on railway strategic planning and maintenance. The Minister appeared very interested in the latter, noting that, with the Benguela rail links to Zambia and Congo, Angola is well-positioned to become a maintenance hub for Central Africa. ¶9. (SBU) Embassy Luanda communicated the Minister's comments and perceptions on the GE proposal by telephone to the GE Rail Transportation office in South Africa, the principal negotiator for the deal. In addition, we have provided written feedback to the DOC-ITA office which initiated the advocacy request and the GE government affairs office in the US. -------------- Connecting the Country by Road -------------- ¶10. (U) Brandao also briefly discussed his trip to the US and discussions with US officials on the state of Angolan roads, noting that the Ministry of Transportation shares this responsibility with the Ministry of Public Works. He said that the GRA is faced with the challenge of repairing and repaving old roads; preserving newly paved roads, and planning for and building new roads. He believes Angola needs to build two major national highways - one traversing the country from north to south along the coastline and one from east to west. He urged US companies to consider participating in building highways in Angola. ¶11. (U) Brandao then (and more realistically) requested USG assistance for a technical study for highway development; design of a highway safety system and for technical training on dealing with hazardous waste spills. Ambassador Efird replied she would alert USTDA to Angolan interest in technical assistance in the highway development study. She also mentioned that the US Dept of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration could possibly help with technical and training assistance and training on safety issues. ¶12. (U) During the delivery ceremony for the Boeing Aircraft, Ambassador Efird was seated with the Angolan economic team (Minister of Finance de Morais and Deputy Prime Minister Aguinaldo Jaime) and raised the issue of US locomotives with the Ministers, emphasizing again the likely technical training assistance US companies often offer. -------------- Action Requests -------------- ¶13. (U) Action Requests: A) FOR USTDA - please advise whether a technical study for Angolan highway development would be feasible and steps necessary to start process. B) For AF/S - Please follow up with USDOT-Highway Administration. LUANDA 00001210 003.2 OF 003 We understand Minister Brandao met with DOT officials in September and discussed technical assistance. Please advise on status of discussions and steps Embassy Luanda could take to facilitate technical expertise. C) For EB - We have heard that EXIM Bank asset based lending may be under discussion for locomotives as well as aircraft sales. In Embassy Luanda's opinion, the window for a multi-million dollar sales opportunity with the possibility of a continuing partnership for providing locomotives to this major African rail link will close by March 2007. EFIRD