INPUT FOR NEW REQUIRED REPORTS ON ENERGY

UNCLAS BANGKOK 000510 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ENRG SENV APER ABUD SUBJECT: INPUT FOR NEW REQUIRED REPORTS ON ENERGY REF: SECSTATE 10743 ¶1. Post's response to reftel is below. ¶2. -- A. Which section or sections of the Embassy handle energy matters? What is the total number of staff in this section or sections? State Department Economic Section (ECON),Foreign Commercial Service (FCS),Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS),and USAID's Regional Environment Office (REO). Including U.S. and Thai personnel, ECON has thirteen staff, FCS has nineteen staff, FAS has nine staff and USAID/REO has seven staff. -- B. Please identify the positions of employees that work on energy matters and specify the percentage of time that such employees devote to energy matters. For example: 1 economic officer: 90 percent of the time; 1 OMS: 30 percent of the time; 1 econ counselor: 20 percent of the time; 1 FSN: 60 percent of the time. ECON: Econ counselor 5 percent, 1 econ officer 15 percent, 1 Regional Environmental officer (ECON/REO) 10 percent, 1 Regional Environmental Assistant 5 percent. 1 FSN: 5 percent, 1 FSN 5 percent. FCS: 1 FSN 25 percent. FAS: 1 agriculture attach and three FSNs, total of 10 percent of one staff year. USAID/REO: 1 Regional Environment Advisor: 40 percent -- C. Please provide a brief narrative description of the positions of employees that work on energy matters (econ officer, EST counselor, FSN, etc.),the kinds of work they do (for example, report on oil ministry, contact with oil companies, energy dialogues, civilian nuclear programs),and any special information about their qualifications. ECON: monitor, research and report on developments in the energy sector in Thailand. Maintain liaison with and advocate interests of U.S. energy companies. Maintain liaison with the Ministry of Energy. Represent U.S. interests at energy-themed UN meetings in Bangkok. ECON/REO: majority of energy-related work researching and reporting on hydropower; also spend significant amounts of time on researching and reporting on renewable energy such as biofuels. FCS: Promote U.S. business interests, market research, matchmaking between U.S. suppliers and Thai buyers, assist with due diligence. FAS: Follow the use of biofuels in Thailand in the context of other commodity analysis efforts. Publish an annual Global Agriculture Information Network (GAIN) report on biofuels in Thailand. USAID/REO: USAID staff is a USPSC who manages a 3-year, $8 million program titled the Environmental Cooperation-Asia Clean Development and Climate Program (ECO-Asia CDCP) to promote clean energy technologies and financing in six Asian developing countries (China, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam). The program is primarily focused on positively addressing global climate change through stronger enabling policies, market incentives, and access to financing. Regional Environment Advisor's experience includes background in climate change programs and technical support. -- D. Budget: Please provide the amounts of State Department funds, including salary costs (prorated as applicable),spent by your post in FY 2007 on energy-related activities in two categories: --- personnel: Approximately $85,000 --- programs: USAID: $50,000 from EAP John