PREPARATIONS FOR THE TRI-BORDER POLICYMAKERS'

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KUALA LUMPUR 000225 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS S/CT FOR FEIERSTEIN, PALMER, ALLEGRA EAP FOR ALLAN, KLEINE, WAYMAN, TAYLOR JIACG FOR WELCH, KOEHR, BAHR, NICHOLSON, NEWELL E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PTER PREL ID RP MY SUBJECT: PREPARATIONS FOR THE TRI-BORDER POLICYMAKERS' CONFERENCE (T3PC) REF: A. 7NOV07 RSI-JAKARTA/MANILA/KUALA LUMPUR E-MAIL ¶B. 7MAR08 RSI-JAKARTA/MANILA/KUALA LUMPUR E-MAIL ¶1. (SBU) Preparations for a policymakers conference involving officials from Indonesia, the Philippines, and Malaysia are moving forward. PACOM and S/CT have committed funding for the event, scheduled to take place May 4-7, 2008 at the Shangri-La hotel in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. The maritime policy division of Malaysia's National Security Council has agreed to the U.S.-facilitated event. The tightly focused conference involving a small number of participants is intended to promote cross-border cooperation and coordination between relevant agencies from Indonesia, the Philippines, and Malaysia in their tri-border operating area. The T3PC concept includes the involvement of a limited number of embassy officers with PACOM personnel to facilitate discussion among the conference delegates. Why Another Tri-border Conference? -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Combating transnational crime, including terrorism, and enhancing regional stability in the tri-border region require greater awareness, capability and coordination among the three nations. Three rounds of U.S.-facilitated conferences for security officials from Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines have forged better communications and understanding in the tri-border area, and improved prospects for increased trilateral cooperation over the longer term to address common threats. While earlier conferences have been productive, their effectiveness has been diminished at times by mismatches among the delegations in terms of their rank, interagency breadth, and depth of knowledge of tri-border security policies. In addition, in the larger conference setting, the opportunities for exchanges between policymakers from the three countries have been limited. To address these areas, the May Tri-border Policymakers Conference is designed as a smaller event with opportunities for extensive interchange between more senior officials who have responsibilities for aspects of maritime and border security. This event provides an opportunity to enhance relationships among officials of the three countries, identify new opportunities for collaboration, elicit political support for programs currently in train or being planned for the tri-border area, and expose a core group of policymakers to other possibilities for advancing maritime security. ¶3. (SBU) The draft agenda includes plenary sessions and breakout groups focused on domain awareness, threats and trends, security organization development, capacity building, security policy and practice (refs A and B). The full agenda will be shared separately. Action Requested -------------- ¶4. (SBU) We invite Embassies Jakarta, Manila and Kuala Lumpur to designate two or three working-level experts on security forces, ports/borders, and regional security policy. The teams would meet with PACOM counterparts prior to the conference, facilitate policymakers' discussion during break-out sessions, and remain afterward to consolidate outcomes and coordinate reporting and take-aways. PACOM funds will pay for the embassy teams' travel, per diem, and lodging. ¶5. (SBU) We also invite embassies to recommend delegations comprised of 5-6 policymakers at the agency Deputy Director or Under Secretary level representing the 5-6 host government agencies most deeply involved in issues impacting tri-border security. By way of comparison, the Malaysian delegation will likely include representation from the NSC, Joint Forces HQ, Coast Guard, Marine Police, Customs, and MFA S.E. Asia Division. Once delegates are recommended, embassies will have the opportunity to quickly assure that there is sufficient parity among the three delegations, and if necessary, make adjustments. When final lists are agreed, embassies may begin human rights vetting of host nation officials. Embassies would be asked to extend invitations to the foreign delegates drawing on stock language that will be provided separately. Ideally, posts would contact foreign KUALA LUMP 00000225 002 OF 002 officials and extend invitations one month before the event. ¶6. (SBU) Please send the names, titles, and organizational affiliations of recommended delegates and embassy teams by to Jason Donovan (DonovanJ@state.gov). KEITH