DEMARCHE DELIVERED: PROPOSED GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP

UNCLAS KUWAIT 001176 SIPDIS STATE/EEB FOR MIKE LURIE AND JANET SPECK; USAID FOR BILL HAMMINK; USDA FOR KIRK MILLER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAID EAGR ECIN KU SUBJECT: DEMARCHE DELIVERED: PROPOSED GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP FOR AGRICULTURE AND FOOD (GPAF) REF: SECSTATE 123480 ¶1. (SBU) Econoffs delivered reftel points on December 1 to Jasem Al-Bader, the Chairman and Director-General of the Public Authority for Agricultural Affairs and Fishery Resources (PAAF). Al-Bader, who led the Kuwaiti delegation to the June High Level Conference on Global Food Security, was very receptive to the proposed GPAF and said that he and his team would carefully review the points delivered. He agreed on the need for international coordination, including among public and private stakeholders. ¶2. (SBU) Note: There are approximately 4,000 farms in Kuwait, of which approximately 1,500 are livestock farms and 2,500 are crop farms. The GOK's annual subsidy for livestock production currently stands at approximately USD 120 million, a figure which will double in the next fiscal year, according to another PAAF official. End note. ********************************************* * For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/?cable s Visit Kuwait's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/ ********************************************* * JONES