DEMARCHE REGARDING MARCH WTO SERVICES NEGOTIATIONS

UNCLAS KUALA LUMPUR 000134 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EEB/TPA/MTA - CAROL HENNINGER STATE ALSO FOR EAP/MTS - MIKE TAYLOR STATE PASS USTR - TODD NISSEN USTR ALSO FOR BARBARA WEISEL AND DOUGLAS BELL GENEVA FOR USTR USDOC FOR 4420/ITA/MAC TREASURY FOR OASIA/ISA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON ETRD WTRO MY SUBJECT: DEMARCHE REGARDING MARCH WTO SERVICES NEGOTIATIONS REF: STATE 018377 ¶1. (U) Econ counselor and econoff discussed reftel demarche with Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) Deputy Secretary General Datuk Dr. Rebecca Fatima Sta Maria on February 26. Econ counselor also handed Rebecca the letter from USTR Susan Schwab to Minister of International Trade and Industry Rafidah Aziz. Rebecca promised to deliver the letter immediately to Minister Rafidah's office; she noted, however, that the Minister is on the campaign trail in advance of Malaysia's March 8 general election, and may not see the letter for some time. ¶2. (U) Rebecca said Malaysia would be sending a team to Geneva for talks the week of March 10. She said the team would include sectoral experts, in particular from Bank Negara, Malaysia's central bank, which oversees the financial services sector, as well as additional experts from MITI and the Ministry of Agriculture. Rebecca noted that Malaysia continues to consider ways to strengthen its services offer, though MITI has been placing a higher priority of late on services in the context of its bilateral FTA negotiations rather than at the Doha Round, which she said was a longer-term process. ¶3. (SBU) Comment: Malaysia's services team likely will have limited ability to make commitments during the week of March 10 given that national elections will have just occurred. The new Malaysian cabinet, which would need to provide authority for the team to make new commitments, is not expected to be composed until a week after the election, at the earliest. Unless the new government takes an (unexpected) activist approach towards concluding the Doha Round, any changes to Malaysia's services offer in the foreseeable future will be more incremental than substantial. KEITH