PRIME MINISTER RESPONDS TO MCC CRITERIA CONCERNS

UNCLAS BAMAKO 001296 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL EINV ECON EAGR ML SUBJECT: PRIME MINISTER RESPONDS TO MCC CRITERIA CONCERNS 1.(SBU) Prime Minister Modibo Sidibe telephoned the Ambassador on October 31 to discuss the 2008 MCC eligibility criteria. Ambassador had written the Prime Minister in advance of a scheduled meeting to outline the new criteria, to note that Mali was now failing a majority of indicators in the "investing in people" category (and 2 in the "economic freedom" category),and to ask the Prime Minister to designate Malian government focal points to work with MCC to develop an action plan on remediation. 2.(SBU) During the call, the Prime Minister confirmed he had received the letter, and he pressed for clarification on whether this suggested that Mali's MCC compact would be suspended. The Ambassador replied that such an action would be an extraordinary and unprecedented step, that the Mali Compact was on track, but that the eligibility criteria for 2008 pointed to deficiencies that needed to be addressed in an action plan to ensure that both parties were in agreement on the way ahead. 3.(SBU) The Prime Minister concurred on the need to establish a joint plan, and agreed immediately to designate a focal point for the government. He added that he would need to study the issue further to see if one focal point would suffice, and if focal points within the relevant technical ministries would be necessary. In general, however, the PM clearly understood the message, and seemed committed to working with MCC to develop the required action plan. Ambassador expects to meet with the PM the week of November 5 (in company of the MCC Resident Country Director) to follow up on this issue. McCulley