JAPAN'S AMBASSADOR FOR IRAQ RECONSTRUCTION AFFIRMS

C O N F I D E N T I A L TOKYO 005566

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

NEA/I FOR K.TAECKER
AID/ANE FOR BEVER
AID/PPC FOR NICHOLSON

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/26/2016
TAGS: EAID PREL PINR IZ JA
SUBJECT: JAPAN'S AMBASSADOR FOR IRAQ RECONSTRUCTION AFFIRMS
SUPPORT FOR IRAQ COMPACT


Classified By: Ambassador J. Thomas Schieffer for reasons 1.4(b),(d)


1. (C) Japan's newly appointed Ambassador for Iraqi
Reconstruction Gotaro Ogawa September 26 reaffirmed to DCM
Japan's support for the International Compact With Iraq.
Ogawa believes that following meetings in New York and Abu
Dhabi that there is a new momentum to promote the Compact.
Ogawa also commented favorably on meetings he held the
previous week at the State Department, USAID, and the NSC.
He said he plans to attend the first Compact drafting meeting
scheduled to be held in Baghdad beginning October 6 and is
hopeful the drafting process will proceed quickly.


2. (C) Ogawa was encouraged, he said, by the fact that Iraqi
leaders have expressed a strong commitment to the process and
have proposed several concrete ideas. Most international
participants at the meetings Ogawa has attended have
expressed support for the Compact. What needs to be done,
according to Ogawa, is to widen the participation and also to
collect on pledges of support already made. Some European and
Gulf countries have pledged support, he noted, but it remains
unclear exactly what they mean to do. In addition, many of
the pledges made at the Madrid conference have not yet been
realized.


3. (C) As for Japan, Tokyo intends to remain committed in
Iraq through the airlift support missions being flown by Air
Self Defense Forces and through continuing efforts to
disburse the $3.5 billion worth of loans it has made
available. In addition, Japan is considering doing more in
support for capacity building. With regard to the loans,
four programs worth approximately $700 million have been
agreed upon, but Japan cannot find anyone on the Iraqi side
willing to sign for the loans. Ogawa said he's not sure what
the problem is. Perhaps it's due to a lack of administrative
capacity, or maybe something deeper is going on, he
speculated. In addition to the four approved projects, four
to five others are still in the planning stages. The ability
to move forward on development assistance projects depends
heavily on an improvement in the security situation, he
added. (NOTE: A detailed report of Japanese Official
Development Assistance programs in Iraq will follow septel.
END NOTE.)

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BIO INFORMATION
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4. (SBU) Ogawa took up his current position on September 1.
His most recent prior posting was as Japan's ambassador to
Denmark, where he was also accredited to Lithuania (2003-06).
He began his career in 1968 after graduating from Tokyo
University's Faculty of Law. High-level assignments have
included Director of the First International Economic Affairs
Division (1985-86),Director of the First West Europe
Division (1986-88),Counselor at the Japanese Embassy in
Moscow (1988-90),Counselor and then Minister at the Embassy
in Seoul (1990-94),Deputy Director General of the
Intelligence and Analysis Bureau (1994-95),Director General
of the General Affairs Department at the Japan International
Cooperation Agency (1995-98),Consul General in Honolulu
(1998-2000),and Ambassador to Cambodia (2000-03).
Ambassador Ogawa was born in 1943 in Shizuoka Prefecture and
is married to Machiko Ogawa. They have three children.
SCHIEFFER