FORMAL INVITATION FROM SECRETARY RICE FOR NON-MEM

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 STATE 000559 SIPDIS SIPDIS, STATE PASS TO DINT FOR AMBASSADORS AND DCMS FROM SECRETARY RICE WHITE HOUSE FOR NSC AND CEQ ROME -- PLEASE PASS TO EMBASSY VATICAN BRIDGETOWN: INVITATION IS FOR FOUR COUNTRIES -- BARBADOS/ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA/ST. KITTS AND NEVIS/ST. LUCIA ANTANARIVO: INVITATION IS FOR BOTH MADAGASCAR AND THE COMOROS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ENRG SENV TRGY EPET EAID SOCI KSCA KGHG KPAO OPDC, AF, AG, AC, AR, AU, BF, BG, BK, BB, BU, UV, BY, CD, CM, CV, CI, CO, CN, CS, IV, DA, DR, EC, EG, ES, FI, GH, GR, GT, HA, HU, IC, EI, IS, JO, KE, LG, LT, LY, LH, MA, MY, MP, MO, NP, NL, NZ, NU, NI, NO, PK, PP, PE, RP, PL, PO, RO, SC, SA, SG, SN, LO, SP, CE, NS, SW, SZ, TZ, TH, TD, TU, UG, UY, VT SUBJECT: FORMAL INVITATION FROM SECRETARY RICE FOR NON-MEM DELEGATIONS TO ATTEND THE WASHINGTON INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON RENEWABLE ENERGY (WIREC) MARCH 4-6, 2008 REF: A) STATE 138428 B) STATE 80334 -------------- ACTION REQUESTS -------------- ¶1. Action Requests: Ambassadors or appropriate senior embassy officials at action addressee posts are requested to deliver the text in paragraph 11 as a letter from Secretary Rice to either the host government's foreign SIPDIS minister or, if known, the host government's designated Minister-level head of official delegation to WIREC 2008. Posts at their discretion may cc other ministers who have indicated an interest in attending WIREC. Paragraphs four through ten contain post-specific instructions for Dakar, Dar Es Salaam, Helsinki, Lisbon, San Jose, Stockholm, and The Hague based on communications received from posts. No signed original will follow. Posts are asked to confirm delivery of the letter via return cable. Please include name and contact information for post's WIREC POC in the response cable. ¶2. All action addressee posts are requested to inform their Host governments that Official Individual Country Ministerial- level delegations may consist of a maximum of 10 individuals per country, composed of up to three Ministers, including the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Energy, Agriculture, or Environment (or the equivalent Ministers covering those portfolios) and three subnational government representatives. The European Commission is also invited to send a delegation of 10 members. We defer to each country's Minister of Foreign Affairs (MFA) to determine their country's precise makeup of the 'Official WIREC Ministerial Delegation,' as well as to inform us of their 'Head of Delegation,' assuming more than one 
Minister-level delegate is part of that country's official delegation. However, we appreciate Embassy engagement with the MFA to ensure that the delegation is comprised of appropriate Ministers and subnational STATE 00000559 002 OF 004 government representatives. ¶3. All action addressee posts are requested to inform their Host governments that each member of the delegation must submit an individual registration form to confirm attendance at WIREC ¶2008. Official delegates may register for the conference via the internet at http://www.usea.org/WIREC/official_party_regi stration_pub_0001.p df. ¶4. Action Request for Dakar: Please address the letter to Minister for Renewable Energy and Biofuels Christian Sina Diatta. ¶5. Action Request for Dar Es Salaam: Please address the letter to Minister for Energy and Minerals Nazir M. Karamagi. ¶6. Action Request for Helsinki: Please address the letter to Minister of Trade and Industry Mauri Pekkarinen. ¶7. Action Request for Lisbon: Please address the letter to Economy Minister Manuel Pinho. ¶8. Action Request for San Jose: Please address the letter to Minister of Foreign Affairs Bruno Stagno. ¶9. Action Request for Stockholm: Please address the letter to Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Enterprise and Energy Maud Olofsson. ¶10. Action Request for The Hague: Please address the letter to Dutch Economic Affairs Minister Maria van der Hoeven. -------------- TEXT OF LETTER -------------- ¶11. Begin text of the letter: Dear Mr./Madam Minister: (or other appropriate salutation) The U.S. State Department will host the Washington International Renewable Energy Conference (WIREC 2008) in Washington on March 4-6, 2008. WIREC 2008 is the third global ministerial-level event on renewable energy after Bonn in 2004 and Beijing in ¶2005. WIREC will serve as a global platform for ministers and STATE 00000559 003 OF 004 senior leaders from the private sector, sub-national governments, and civil society to discuss and share information about the benefits of renewable energy, identify best practices and barriers, and consider policy options and measures needed to encourage the rapid development of renewable energy in their countries. I am pleased to invite (insert name of country) to send an official delegation to WIREC 2008. Approximately 2,000 delegates will participate in the three-day conference at the Washington Convention Center, and we envision participation by U.S. Cabinet secretaries and senior White House officials. In the spirit of the International Action Program that was agreed to at the Bonn Conference, I am inviting your government to consider making a voluntary national pledge at WIREC to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy in your country. The consolidation of national governments' pledges, as well as pledges from other major stakeholders (sub-national governments, international organizations, the private sector, civil society, and multi-stakeholder partnerships) will be one of the major outcomes of WIREC. I look forward to your official delegation's active participation in WIREC 2008. Sincerely, Condoleezza Rice End text. -------------- DEADLINE -------------- ¶12. Posts are asked to deliver the letter from the Secretary to the minister who has been designated to head SIPDIS the official delegation, if known, or, if a head of delegation has not been decided, to the foreign minister, no later than OOB Wednesday, January 9, to ensure the official delegates receive the invitation in time to block out the WIREC dates on their schedules. Responses should be slugged for OES for WIREC Action Group Leader Stan Specht and OES Special Assistant Camille Hill. -------------- POC FOR QUESTIONS -------------- STATE 00000559 004 OF 004 ¶13. For additional information about WIREC 2008, contact OES' WIREC Action Group Leader Stan Specht (OES/PCI) at SpechtSH@state.gov and consult the official WIREC website at www.wirec2008.gov. ¶14. Minimize considered. RICE