UNSCR 1747/OECD DEMARCHE ON RESTRICTING EXPORT

C O N F I D E N T I A L TOKYO 002905 SIPDIS SIPDIS FOR EEB TREASURY FOR VICTORIA ALBO PARIS FOR USOECD E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/27/2012 TAGS: PREL EFIN ETRD EXIM OECD UN IR JA SUBJECT: UNSCR 1747/OECD DEMARCHE ON RESTRICTING EXPORT CREDITS TO IRAN: MOFA RESPONSE REF: A. STATE 81876 ¶B. STATE 81875 ¶C. TOKYO 2853 ¶D. TOKYO 2851 Classified By: Ambassador J. Thomas Schieffer. Reasons 1.4 (a) and (d) ¶1. (C) Econoff delivered Ref A demarche to MOFA OECD Division Director Naohiro Tsutsumi on June 26, following up on earlier Embassy discussions on the same issue with Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and MOF officials (Refs C and D.) Tsutsumi confirmed that he had already consulted with his METI counterpart. Japan, Tsutsumi noted, strongly supported UNSC efforts to prevent Iranian nuclear development. However, in dealing with the issue of export credits it was important to keep in mind that "emerging economies" play an increasingly important role in the global economy, including as providers of investment and export credits. Therefore in the areas of export credits, all interested parties, both OECD and non-OECD members, have to work together for any measures to be effective. ¶2. (C) Econoff also provided a copy of the OECD Export Credit survey and the U.S. response (Ref B) and urged Japan to complete the survey as quickly as possible. Tsutsumi replied that it was his personal opinion that Japan should answer the survey and he would take the issue up with other interested divisions in MOFA. He believed that Japan's export credit agency was already taking a more restrictive posture towards Iran. schieffer