MENA OECD STEERING GROUP MEETS IN AMMAN TO PLAN FOR

UNCLAS AMMAN 003881 SIPDIS SIPDIS SENSITIVE STATE FOR E, EEB/OIA, EEB/FO, NEA/ELA, AND NEA/RA STATE PASS AID E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON EFIN EINV XF SUBJECT: MENA OECD STEERING GROUP MEETS IN AMMAN TO PLAN FOR NOVEMBER INVESTMENT MINISTERIAL IN CAIRO Sensitive but unclassified. Not for internet distribution. ¶1. (SBU) The Steering Group of the MENA OECD Investment Program met in Amman, Jordan on September 5 to review progress and prepare for its ministerial meeting. The Egyptian Prime Minister will open the November 28 Ministerial and its Investment Minister will chair the meeting. The initiative, now in its 4th year, assists countries in the region in developing and executing national reform agendas to improve the investment/business climate, and also provides a regional forum for comparing experiences and tracking progress in implementing reforms. It has active participation from the region and includes support and participation from major OECD members including the U.S., Japan, UK, and Canada as well as from international institutions including the World Bank, UNDP, and the Islamic Development Bank. ¶2. (SBU) Among the key developments from the meeting was the announcement of OECD and World Bank collaboration on a project to develop more refined diagnostic tools and performance indicators, based on experiences with the Bank's Doing Business indicators and OECD's Policy Framework for Investment, to more uniformly measure progress of countries across the region. A first review of a draft Ministerial Declaration and agenda for the Ministerial was also conducted. After revision, the draft will be circulated again for comment. A second round of invitations to MENA and OECD member Ministers will be sent shortly, including to Secretary Rice and OPIC President Mosbacher who attended last year. Canada, which is in the process of making a three-year contribution through its development assistance agency, joined the U.S., UK, Japan, Bahrain, and other major financial backers in the Steering Group. ¶3. (SBU) U.S. participation was led by State/EEB's Investment Office Director Wes Scholz, who was accompanied by Gregory Howell of State/NEA's MEPI office and James Filpi of the Commerce Department General Counsel's Office. Filpi briefed the steering group on its MEPI-funded commercial law development program and its value to countries in the region. On the margins of the meeting, Scholz briefed OECD officials on USG plans to fund an advisor on investment climate issues in Iraq, as a part the U.S. commitment to the MENA-OECD Initiative. ¶4. (SBU) Info Posts interested in obtaining more information should contact Mark Cullinane in State's investment office at cullinanemw@state.gov or 202-736-4012. The investment office would be happy to provide background regarding project status in individual countries or information on the November Ministerial in Cairo. ¶5. (U) This message was drafted by EEB/ODF/OIA. ¶6. (U) Tripoli: minimize considered. Visit Amman's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.gov.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman/ HALE