ACTION REQUEST: SCENESETTER AND "PANDERMANIA" -

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 001111 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: AORC UNGA SUBJECT: ACTION REQUEST: SCENESETTER AND "PANDERMANIA" - JAPANESE STYLE ¶1. This is an action request - see para 3. ¶2. On Friday, November 30, Ambassador Wallace hosted the latest in a series of JUSCKANZ meetings dedicated to developing a coordinated strategy to reduce the Secretary-General's proposed programme budget (PPB) for the SIPDIS 2008-2009 biennium, which is likely to exceed $5 billion after recosting and add-ons. The discussion focused on ways the JUSCKANZ could capitalize on the EU's across-the-board approach to realize reductions or savings. The group identified the following EU proposals as areas where the JUSCKANZ could make credible argument at least in support of the proposals and, hopefully to be in a position to argue for further across the board reductions: adjusting upward the for-budget-purposes-only vacancy rates, adjusting downward the inflation rate, and reducing non-post costs. It is estimated by the EU that their measures if approved as requested would achieve up to some $100 million in savings. These ideas were met with general consensus, except by the Japanese, who surprisingly expressed a reluctance to support even the EU's somewhat modest proposals. ¶3. ACTION REQUEST: USUN requests that Department double-track USUN efforts and demarche GOJ officials in Washington and Tokyo, emphasizing that it is critical the Japanese strongly support the U.S. and the Western Group in our combined attempts to lower the budget. Khalilzad