Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07VIENTIANE52
2007-01-22 06:42:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Vientiane
Cable title:  

LAO VIEWS ON ASEAN'S CEBU SUMMITS

Tags:  EAID ECIN ELTN ETRD LA PREL PTER SMIG 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO4003
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHVN #0052/01 0220642
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 220642Z JAN 07
FM AMEMBASSY VIENTIANE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0797
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 2082
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0964
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 0132
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 0538
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 1130
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON 0095
RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 VIENTIANE 000052 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/MLS; BANGKOK FOR USAID; PACOM ALSO FOR
POLAD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/21/2017
TAGS: EAID ECIN ELTN ETRD LA PREL PTER SMIG
SUBJECT: LAO VIEWS ON ASEAN'S CEBU SUMMITS

REF: A. MANILA 0179

B. STATE 06177

Classified By: AMBASSADOR PATRICIA M. HASLACH FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (
D)


C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 VIENTIANE 000052

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/MLS; BANGKOK FOR USAID; PACOM ALSO FOR
POLAD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/21/2017
TAGS: EAID ECIN ELTN ETRD LA PREL PTER SMIG
SUBJECT: LAO VIEWS ON ASEAN'S CEBU SUMMITS

REF: A. MANILA 0179

B. STATE 06177

Classified By: AMBASSADOR PATRICIA M. HASLACH FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (
D)



1. (SBU) Summary: MFA ASEAN Department Deputy Director
General Songkane told P/E Chief the main Lao priorities at
the recent ASEAN Summits in Cebu were to reinforce support
for a proposed rail extension into Laos and for Lao
hydropower projects. He welcomed a proposed third bridge
across the Mekong River and admitted Laos needed help in
developing its information technology. Songkane saw an
agreement for increased trade in services with China as
leading to more tourism revenue for Laos. While he deemed an
ASEAN Declaration on migrant worker protection helpful, he
noted Laos has also worked bilaterally with Thailand on these
issues. Songkane admitted, cautiously, that Burma could make
more progress toward a constitution. He said Deputy Foreign
Minister Bounkeut would lead the Lao team to the ASEAN
Charter task force which would begin meeting in February.
End Summary.


2. (U) P/E Chief met January 18 with MFA ASEAN Department
Deputy Director General Songkane Luangmuninthone to deliver
USG-proposed Economic Agenda for ASEAN-U.S. Enhanced
Partnership Plan of Action (ref B). DDG Songkane was
accompanied by MFA ASEAN Department External Relations
Division officers Thongmoon Phongphailath and Viengoudom
Chanthavong. They promised a response with comments by
January 23 as requested.


3. (U) P/E Chief also asked DDG Songkane for his views on the
series of summit meetings held by ASEAN at Cebu in the
Philippines in mid-January. These included the ASEAN Summit,
the ASEAN 3 (adding China, Japan, and the ROK),and the East
Asia Summit (adding Australia, New Zealand, and India to the
previous group).

A Rail Link
--------------

4. (SBU) Songkane pointed to the ASEAN cooperation on

preparations during the year before these summits as assuring
that Laos was comfortable with the issues being discussed.
The key focus for the Government of Laos (GOL) in Cebu was
assuring that everyone involved understood the GOL's needs as
Laos evolved from "land-locked" to "land-linked."


5. (SBU) Specifically, the GOL wanted to push support for an
extension of the proposed Kunming (China)-Singapore rail
system to Laos -- extending the current plan for a branch to
Vietnam to reach southern Laos. Songkane said ASEAN supports
the extension, and now the question is financial support for
which Laos is looking to China, the ROK, and Japan.
Apparently GOL officials are sufficiently comfortable with
progress on this issue that Songkane was able to say the next
step is for the Lao Ministry of Communications, Transport,
Post, and Construction to begin to push these three countries
for specific financial commitments.

Energy
--------------

6. (SBU) Songkane reviewed the great potential for hydropower
in Laos and the GOL's push to be a source country for energy
-- especially in this period of unstable oil supplies and
prices. Thus an important objective for Laos was to have the
Cebu meetings reaffirm the principle of a strong role for
hydropower in ASEAN planning. Songkane was particularly
pleased that energy was highlighted in the Chairman's
Statements of all three summits: with a reference to the
ASEAN power grid by the ASEAN Summit, a specific point on
energy security and renewable sources of energy by the ASEAN
3 group, and an entire section of the East Asia Summit
statement on energy.


7. (SBU) The East Asia Summit group also signed a Cebu
Declaration on East Asian Energy Security which calls for
increased reliance on hydropower as one of the ways to reduce
dependence on fossil fuels. Of course, Songkane noted,
financing new dams is expensive, and Laos pressed other ASEAN
Members and the Dialogue Partners for their support. (He

VIENTIANE 00000052 002 OF 003


noted that Russia also has a growing role in hydropower
development in Laos.)

Other GOL Priorities: Another Bridge; IT
--------------

8. (SBU) Narrowing the development gap between older ASEAN
Members and the newer countries like Laos has been another
priority for the GOL. GOL officials see this as happening
via the Initiative For ASEAN Integration and more human
resources development. Still, Songkane opined, Laos has to
have better infrastructure, including more transportation
sector development to achieve the desired "land-linked"
status, so that human resource capacity building can take
place. He particularly welcomed China's decision to finance
50% of a third bridge across the Mekong River (Laos' Bokeo
Province to Chiangrai Province in Thailand).


9. (SBU) Songkane also highlighted the need to develop Laos'
information technology infrastructure. He noted that the ROK
and India are playing important roles in this sector.

Trade In Services
--------------

10. (SBU) The ASEAN Secretariat issued a statement on the
signing of an ASEAN-China Agreement on Trade In Services.
This agreement is designed to increase trade as well as
investments in service sectors including business services
(computer-related, real estate, market research, management
consulting): construction and engineering; tourism and
travel; transport and education; telecommunications; health
and social services; recreation, cultural, and sporting
services; environment; and energy. Songkane said Laos needs
investments in all areas. He noted however that tourism is
the sector most likely to receive a boost from this
agreement, presumably from an increased flow of tourists from
China to Laos.

Migrant Workers
--------------

11. (SBU) When asked about the ASEAN Declaration on the
Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers,
Songkane said humane treatment for migrant workers is a major
problem which requires the cooperation of both sending and
receiving countries to resolve. He thought the Declaration
would help migrants to be able to live more humanely since
each ASEAN Member had committed to improve the rights for
migrant laborers. However, he noted that financial resources
and education would be necessary for countries to meet this
commitment. Referring specifically to Lao migrant workers in
Thailand, Songkane pointed out their situation was different,
for example, from household workers in Singapore who have
suffered abuse reported in the media. Nevertheless Lao
workers do face some problems which the GOL tries to resolve
both within an ASEAN framework and bilaterally.

New ASEAN Charter Task Force
--------------

12. (SBU) The media picked up a report of the recommendations
of an Eminent Persons Group (EPG) regarding a new charter for
ASEAN, including the possibility of expulsion for ASEAN
Members violating the group's rules on either trade or human
right. Songkane said the EPG's proposals would now be
reviewed by a high-level task force. The Lao task force team
would be led by Deputy Foreign Minister Bounkeut Sangsomsack
and include 4-5 other officials. Songkane expected the task
force to start meeting in February so the new charter will be
ready for approval at the next ASEAN Summit, scheduled for
November/December 2007 in Singapore.

Burma
--------------

13. (SBU) P/E Chief and Songkane sparred over the GOL's close
alignment with the Burmese government. When asked about the
ASEAN Summit Chair's statement, which said the group "called
for the release of those placed under detention and for
effective dialogue with all parties concerned," Songkane said
the group basically would like more information from Burmese
authorities. In his personal view, the Burmese government's
plan to develop a constitution through a national convention
process was the correct approach, although he admitted more
progress could be made.


VIENTIANE 00000052 003 OF 003


Comment
--------------

14. (C) Clearly the GOL had very practical priorities at Cebu
-- pushing financial support for its long-desired rail link
and its role as an energy source for the region. Lao
officials were also prepared to look at broad areas of
agreement also in very practical terms: the ASEAN-China Trade
in Services Agreement would likely mean more Chinese tourists
in Luang Prabang (or in the casinos in northern Laos).
Unfortunately apparently missing from the list of priorities
the Lao officials had developed for Cebu were issues of
potential concern to a really responsible member of ASEAN --
such as counter-terrorism cooperation. When asked about
press reports of the EPG's recommendations that an ASEAN
Charter allow expulsion of members, Songkane responded by
citing the upcoming ASEAN Task Force as if to say that
particularly dramatic proposals would be bought under control
before the final draft is ready to be delivered to the
Singapore Summit at the end of the year.

HASLACH