EXPANDING ESTH OPPORTUNITIES IN ALGERIA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 ALGIERS 000223

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/RA, OES, AND AIAG
STATE PASS TO USAID
EPA FOR INTERNATIONAL
USDA FOR FOREST SERVICE/INTERNATIONAL
INTERIOR FOR INTERNATIONAL/WASHBURNE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: TSPL SENV EINV PGOV AG
SUBJECT: EXPANDING ESTH OPPORTUNITIES IN ALGERIA

REF: RABAT 106


1. (U) This is an action request, please see paragraph 11.


2. (SBU) SUMMARY: Algerian government ministries would like
to engage in greater cooperation with the USG pursuant to our
2006 Science and Technology (ST) Agreement. During a visit
of the ESTH Regional Hub Officer, officials at the Ministry
of Higher Education and Scientific Research (the Algerian
signatory to the ST Agreement) told us they would be
interested in a Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) to develop
networks and co-funded collaborations between Algerian and
American experts and institutions in priority areas focused
on scientific research and research application. The
Ministry of Health is likewise interested in expertise
exchanges in medical research and application. Government
officials and professors told us that Algeria recently
enhanced its ST capacity through a newly enacted law and the
establishment of an autonomous scientific research
administration to align ST spending with national priorities
in areas such as water, environment, renewable energy,
agriculture, and materials sciences. Health ministry
officials claim to be well prepared for a possible pandemic,
and believe that while Algeria has never had a reported case
of avian flu, the ministry's surveillance and reaction
systems are robust. Officials at the Ministry of Environment
told us that climate change is a key environmental, economic
and political issue for Algeria, because of the physical
effects of desertification and the expected challenge the
country would face from "environmental migrants" coming from
across the African continent and transiting Algeria to reach
Europe. END SUMMARY.

ST AGREEMENT: PRESSING FOR NEXT STEP
--------------


3. (U) We continue to engage the Algerians in cooperative
activities related to our 2006 Science and Technology (ST)
Agreement, including an ongoing relationship with Algeria's
Atomic Regulatory Agency (COMENA) and the Ministry of Energy
and Mines regarding nuclear technology and materials
handling, as well as a Sister Labs Agreement with the U.S.
Department of Energy resulting in several related exchanges.
Dozens of Algerians have also benefited from USG training in
IPR, telecommunications broadband and spectrum management,
environmental stewardship, breast cancer awareness, wooden
sea-vessel construction, and meteorology. A partnership with
the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) also supports seismic
monitoring in Algeria. We are exploring additional
collaborations including a virtual library concept, expertise
sharing for the construction of a maritime museum in Algiers,
and a project with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute
(WHOI) to map the Bay of Algiers for cultural and seismic
research.


4. (SBU) During the recent visit of the ESTH Regional Hub
Officer, officials at the Ministry of Higher Education and
Scientific Research described Algeria's efforts over the last
decade to enhance scientific research and align it with
national goals. A 2008 law updated the original 1998
codification of national research priorities and an
administration for scientific research was established with
its own financing and staffing. According to Arezki Saidani,
director of international cooperation at the ministry, there
are ten interagency sectoral commissions to coordinate and
implement science and technology programs in priority areas
such as water, health, bio-technology, renewable energy, and
material sciences. The scientific research administration
also established an innovation department to create bridges
between academic research and industry. Three regional,
university-based incubation/tech-transfer centers are planned
for Algeria: one that is just coming online in Tlemcen
focused on agriculture, one in Setif focused on electronics,
and one in Bejaia focused on agro-processing.

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5. (SBU) Professor Hafid Aourag, director general of the
scientific research administration, told us that Algeria has
2500 full-time academic researchers at 19 research centers,
and 17,000 part-time researchers among Algerian universities.
He estimated that 20 percent of Algerian researchers have
studied in the U.S. Aourag said that the government
commitment to scientific research has increased from 34
billion dinars in 1998 to 108 billion dinars (USD 1.5
billion) in 2008; equivalent, he said, to approximately 1.7
percent of Algeria's GDP. There are 7.8 million students in
the school system, he told us, and 1.2 million public
university students, including 34,000 in masters and doctoral
programs. Another 600,000 students pursue vocational
training programs. Aourag said that approximately 25 percent
of the national budget is spent on education for 9.6 million
students, which represents almost one-third of the Algerian
population. Ten thousand foreign students from 60 countries
also attend Algerian universities, he added.


6. (SBU) Both Saidani and Aourag stressed their desire to add
a "roadmap" framework to our ST agreement and offered to host
an initial meeting of experts in Algeria to develop networks
between American and Algerian institutions in priority areas.
They committed to sending us their top priorities with
points of contacts for such a meeting, which would likely
include the areas of water, health, biotechnology, renewable
energy, agro-development and nutrition, and natural sciences.
Algeria's goals from the agreement would include
strengthening U.S.-Algeria ST cooperation, increasing
Algerian linkages to U.S. research centers and universities,
obtaining American expertise in the area of innovation and
technology transfer, and partnering with institutions such as
the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National
Institutes of Health (NIH) to strengthen Algerian capacity to
manage research grants and govern research priorities and
institutions. Director General Aourag and Director of
Cooperation Saidani were clear that they expected to co-fund
any such efforts, and welcomed American experts to Algeria
for consultative visits.

ALGERIA CLAIMS PANDEMIC PREPAREDNESS
--------------


7. (SBU) In an unusually warm and friendly meeting at the
health ministry (MOH),officials in charge of medical
research and infectious and chronic diseases outlined their
major goals and their preparedness for pandemics. They told
us the country's 150,000 public health workers provide health
care delivery services throughout Algeria while also managing
population planning, research and prevention through hospital
reform. They said private clinics in Algeria supplement the
public health care system -- essentially free for the entire
population -- creating a network of coverage of two to four
hospitals per wilaya (province) on average, with more in
urban areas. They told us that, like many developing
countries, chronic diseases (heart disease, diabetes, cancer,
and respiratory diseases) are becoming more prevalent than
infectious diseases. Dr. Ghania Merbout, Deputy Director for
Infectious Diseases, was very proud of the country's
surveillance and detection system, noting that a strong field
alert system is in place for detecting any possible
outbreaks. An avian influenza (AI) simulation exercise was
done in 2006, and a national committee coordinates AI
preparedness with regional, provincial and municipal
authorities. While Algeria has not detected any cases of
animal or human avian influenza, the MOH believes it is well
prepared for any possible pandemic. The health officials
told us Tamiflu stocks are maintained throughout the hospital
system, although they were unwilling to share how many doses
were kept or how many people would be covered.


8. (SBU) MOH officials, like their Ministry of Higher
Education and Scientific Research colleagues, promised to

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send to us a list of priority areas in which we could enhance
cooperation, noting that they are particularly interested in
hands-on training for doctors and health workers in Algeria.

CLIMATE CHANGE TOPS ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS
--------------


9. (SBU) In a meeting at the Ministry of Urban Development,
Environment and Tourism, Director of International
Cooperation Abdelkader Mekideche and climate change
consultant Mostefa Kara focused on climate change in Africa
and on the expected impact of desertification and migration
patterns. They told us the ministry includes 1000 staff
across the 48 wilayas responsible for general environmental
management. Mekideche said that various Algerian laws govern
environmental management, biodiversity, coastal zone
management, waste management and protection of endangered
species. He also stressed that the ministry supports the
government's strategic goals of promoting economic
development in the high-plateau regions so that urban
pressures on the crowded coastal areas may be reduced.


10. (SBU) Perhaps because domestic environmental management
is linked closely to President Bouteflika's current
development goals, discussion of global climate change
dominated our meeting, as Kara described his work at the
National Agency for Climate Change. Kara referred to the
group statement that emerged from the African ministerial
conference on climate change hosted by Algeria in November
2008, and said that Algeria will lead this forum for the next
two years. On the Arab front, Kara said Algeria plans to
draft a pan-Arab plan of action to be presented at the
December 2009 Copenhagen climate change meetings, similar to
the pan-African statement that was produced here in November.
Kara told us that Algeria will likely suffer in the future
from reduced rainfall, increased desertification, reduced
food security (as the plateaus receive less rainfall),and an
increased spread of diseases, all as a result of climate
change on the continent. Both men expressed a deep fear
that, due to desertification, throngs of "climatic migrants,"
mostly from sub-Saharan Africa but from other regions as
well, would flood into Algeria with the ultimate goal of
reaching Europe. Kara also bemoaned the fact that, because
of the low contribution to greenhouse emissions, Africa is
neglected in climate change discussions by the European Union
and to a degree by the U.S.

ACTION REQUEST
--------------


11. (SBU) Embassy requests Department guidance regarding the
Algerian offer to host a Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) to
provide additional momentum to our ST agreement. Embassy
supports the request and suggests that the fall of 2009 would
be a suitable timeframe for such a meeting. ESTH Regional
Hub Officer notes a Moroccan request for a JCM (reftel),
raising the possibility that a USG delegation to the Maghreb
might hold sequential JCMs. We will seek additional guidance
on any specific requests for training that may arrive from
Algerian ministries per above.


12. (SBU) In separate meetings, the ESTH Regional Hub Officer
briefed us on a proposal to establish an Arab-American
Science Partnership (AASP) with the goal of enhancing
scientific research and collaborations to strengthen
bilateral ties and promote economic development, employment,
and innovation in Algeria and the region. We believe such a
focused science diplomacy program with societal and economic
benefits could promote the U.S. image and USG interests in
Algeria, and look forward to reviewing details as the idea
develops.


13. (U) This cable was coordinated with ESTH Regional Hub
Officer Manu Bhalla, Embassy Amman.

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PEARCE