EXBS: SE ASIA REGIONAL ADVISOR MONTHLY REPORTING

UNCLAS KUALA LUMPUR 000083 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR ISN/ECC YWONG, ACHURCH, ROWEN DEPT FOR ISN/ECC/AMT LSPRINGER DEPT FOR EAP/RSP NDEAN, TFORSYTH, AFORSBERG CBP/INA FOR RWATT USDOE/NNSA FOR TPERRY, JMILLER DOC FOR PETERSEN-BEARD JAKARTA FOR YGONZALES, DTURNBULL MANILA FOR GCOFFIN SINGAPORE FOR HREED E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ETTC MNUC PARM PREL KSTC KNNP MY SUBJECT: EXBS: SE ASIA REGIONAL ADVISOR MONTHLY REPORTING CABLE JANUARY 2008 ¶I. SUMMARY The Advisor participated in meetings with officials from the Malaysian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Australian High Commission, British High Commission, and Japanese Embassy relating to export control issues and several intra-USG agency and external meetings on counter-terrorism topics. END SUMMARY II. COMPLETED ACTIONS FOR THE REPORTING PERIOD ¶A. SITE ASSESSMENTS AND MEETINGS DURING REPORTING PERIOD ¶1. On January 02 the Advisor met with James Paver, Political Officer from the British High Commission, to discuss coordination of export control and counter-terrorism (CT) training activities for the upcoming year and to see if he had an update on the status of the Malaysian draft export control legislation. Mr. Paver told the Advisor that the United Kingdom had repeatedly asked the Government of Malaysia (GOM) for word of progress on the draft, but had not received any feedback. The Advisor and Mr. Paver also discussed an upcoming meeting with Malaysia's South East Asia Center for Counter-Terrorism (SEARCCT) which would focus on potential CT training courses. The Advisor had a similar meeting with Mark Napier of the Australian High Commission on January 03. ¶2. The Advisor participated in two Embassy meetings in January with other USG Agencies regarding future CT training collaboration opportunities with SEARCCT. Potential CT courses were discussed as well as the benefits of utilizing SEARCCT as a co-host. ¶3. On January 11 the Advisor attended a meeting at SEARCCT where donor nations (Australia, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Spain, the UK, and the US) were asked to consider offering CT training expertise to co-host courses with SEARCCT. One potential area of collaboration brought up in the meeting was border security and fraudulent travel documents. ¶4. On January 15 the Advisor and POL Counselor met with Bala Chandran Tharman, Under Secretary for Disarmament, Non-Proliferation, Counter-Terrorism, and Transnational Crime, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA),to discuss the status of Malaysia's draft export control legislation and potential areas of assistance. Bala stated that his number one priority was the completion of the draft and the forwarding of it to an inter-agency committee, prior to submission to Parliament. Bala hoped to have the draft finished by the end of 2008. The offer of a follow-on legal workshop sponsored by EXBS was again extended to Bala and he said the GOM was interested. Malaysia's Attorney General's Chambers has taken over the lead role on the legislation drafting sub-committee and the Advisor is coordinating details with them regarding the legal workshop. ¶5. The Advisor, along with POLOFF, met with Mark Napier and Maya Kishimoto, from the Japanese Embassy, on January 18 for a preliminary discussion of topics for the planned Tri-Lateral Strategic Dialogue (TSD). CT training and export controls were the focus of the discussion. ¶6. The Advisor and POLOFF met with officials from the Asia Pacific Center for Strategic Studies (APCSS) and the Office of Defense Cooperation (ODC) on January 23 to discuss an upcoming APCSS course in Malaysia on a CT-related topic. ¶7. On January 28 the Advisor participated in the TSD meeting and presented information on EXBS activities in Malaysia in 2007 and planned activities for 2008. Our Australian and Japanese counterparts provided information on training they conducted in 2007 and their plans for the coming year; there were no significant new proposals. All three countries are considering the best ways to build capacity within the new Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency, Malaysia's Coast Guard, as well as to identify other potential areas for training and equipment assistance, primarily in the CT arena. ¶B. TRAINING CONDUCTED DURING REPORTING PERIOD NONE ¶C. EQUIPMENT DELIVERED DURING REPORTING PERIOD NONE ¶D. IMMINENT TRAINING OR EQUIPMENT STATUS UPDATE ¶1. A WMD Commodities Identification Training workshop is scheduled for February 26-28 in the Philippines. ¶2. WMD Commodities Identification Training is scheduled for April 22-24 in Indonesia. ¶3. A legal workshop is planned for Malaysia May 07-09. ¶4. A legal workshop is planned for May 12-14 in Indonesia. ¶E. SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENTS IN EXPORT CONTROLS, NONPROLIFERATION, OR RELATED BORDER SECURITY None III. RED FLAG ISSUES NONE IV. Questions and comments can be directed to EXBS Program Advisor Richard Moody, telephone 6-03-2168-4861, fax 6-03-2168-5165, cell phone 6-017-213-1965, and email moodyrl@state.gov. KEITH