Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07MANAMA159
2007-02-20 09:19:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Manama
Cable title:  

CROWN PRINCE PROPOSES ACCUMULATION OF VALUE-ADDED

Tags:  PREL ETRD ELAB BEXP BA ECTRD HUMRIT 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO1696
OO RUEHDE RUEHDIR
DE RUEHMK #0159 0510919
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 200919Z FEB 07
FM AMEMBASSY MANAMA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6444
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN PRIORITY 1298
RUEHRB/AMEMBASSY RABAT PRIORITY 1003
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RHBVAKS/COMUSNAVCENT PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L MANAMA 000159 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE PASS USTR/JBUNTIN
USDOC FOR 4520/ITA/MAC/ONE/THOFFMAN
LABOR FOR ILAB/JRUDE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/19/2017
TAGS: PREL ETRD ELAB BEXP BA ECTRD HUMRIT
SUBJECT: CROWN PRINCE PROPOSES ACCUMULATION OF VALUE-ADDED
AMONG FTA PARTNERS

REF: A. 07 MANAMA 0121

B. 06 MANAMA 2013

C. 06 MANAMA 1979

Classified By: Ambassador William T. Monroe for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)
.

C O N F I D E N T I A L MANAMA 000159

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE PASS USTR/JBUNTIN
USDOC FOR 4520/ITA/MAC/ONE/THOFFMAN
LABOR FOR ILAB/JRUDE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/19/2017
TAGS: PREL ETRD ELAB BEXP BA ECTRD HUMRIT
SUBJECT: CROWN PRINCE PROPOSES ACCUMULATION OF VALUE-ADDED
AMONG FTA PARTNERS

REF: A. 07 MANAMA 0121

B. 06 MANAMA 2013

C. 06 MANAMA 1979

Classified By: Ambassador William T. Monroe for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)
.


1. (SBU) Crown Prince Shaikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa
confirmed to the Ambassador February 19, in a meeting
covering several subjects (septels),that he would lead an
upcoming AmCham trade delegation to Chicago March 5-6. He
said coordination and arrangements were going very well and
he briefed the Ambassador on his planned activities, which
include meeting with the business and financial community in
Chicago as well as a dinner hosted by the mayor. The
Ambassador urged that he take advantage of his stop in
Chicago with the trade mission to meet with the press and
promote the benefits of the U.S.-Bahrain free trade agreement
(FTA) and trade with Bahrain. They also discussed his March
7-10 schedule in Washington.


2. (SBU) The Ambassador informed the Crown Prince of the
planned March 29 Middle East Free Trade Area (MEFTA)
conference, which will include representation from Jordan,
Morocco, Oman and Bahrain. He stated that, in addition to a
strong commercial presence for each country, we also hoped to
have senior leadership. He noted that he had sent
invitational letters to Minister of Industry and Commerce
Hassan Fakhro and Economic Development Board CEO Shaikh
Mohammed bin Isa Al Khalifa, and hoped that the CP might
consider attending as a way to help boost trade with Bahrain.
He added that Morocco's prime minister will attend the event.


3. (SBU) The Crown Prince asked that the U.S. consider
allowing accumulation of value-added among FTA partners to
reach the required 35 percent minimum. Expressing his
understanding that one of the goals of the MEFTA was to
promote trade among the U.S.'s regional FTA partners, he said
allowing accumulation would encourage regional economic
integration and trade links. He recalled that Deputy
Secretary of Commerce Sampson had mentioned that accumulation

SIPDIS
could be a topic of discussion at a proposed conference on
MEFTA on the margins of the Dead Sea World Economic Forum at
the end of May (Ref A). The CP said Bahrain "is ready to
move" on accumulation and wondered what the process would be
to implement it.


4. (C) The Ambassador informed the CP that during recent
appearances on Capitol Hill, USTR Schwab had been asked about
the labor situation in Bahrain. There was concern that the
November 2006 Prime Ministerial decree banning strikes in
certain industries represented Bahraini backsliding on its
labor commitments in the FTA (Refs B and C). He noted that
he would speak soon with the Labor Minister about this issue.
The CP said he had not tracked the issue closely but was
interested in finding out whether the decree went beyond
internationally accepted practice.


5. (SBU) The Crown Prince said there was good news on
Bahrain's labor reform process. An electronic system that
will compile data on foreign workers, including registering
and tracking them, had successfully completed its trial phase
and would soon be operational. He said that foreign workers
were already "nominally" independent of their sponsors but by
the summer the reforms would be fully implemented. At that
time, businesses will start paying a fee for each foreign
worker in the amount of BD 30 ($80) per month. The fee will
gradually increase over time. Although he admitted that the
fee system still had to gain formal Cabinet approval, he did
not expect any problems. He noted that Minister of State for
Foreign Affairs Nizar Al Baharna, a prominent Shia Al Wifaq
member before his recent appointment to the government, had
been named to oversee the fund created from these labor fees
to expand training opportunities for Bahrain's labor force.


********************************************* ********
Visit Embassy Manama's Classified Website:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/manama/
********************************************* ********
MONROE