GERMAN VIEWS ON APRIL 17 PAKISTAN DONORS CONFERENCE

C O N F I D E N T I A L BERLIN 000326 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/19/2019 TAGS: PREL EAID ECON EFIN IBRD PK GM SUBJECT: GERMAN VIEWS ON APRIL 17 PAKISTAN DONORS CONFERENCE REF: STATE 24367 Classified By: CHARGE D'AFFAIRES JOHN KOENIG. REASONS: 1.4 (B) AND (D). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY. Charge Koenig delivered reftel points to MFA State Secretary Reinhard Silberberg on March 18, in a joint demarche with Japanese Ambassador Takahiro Shinyo and Pakistani Ambassador Shahid Ahmad Kamal. Silberberg said the German MFA will be represented at the April 17 Donors Conference and the Friends of Democratic Pakistan meeting by special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Bernd Muetzelburg. The German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) will also be represented, but it is still not clear at what level. While confirming that Germany was "ready to take on our share" of the burden at the Donors Conference, Silberberg said he could not offer a figure now on how much Germany would contribute, as this was still the subject of internal discussions. Post also delivered the reftel points to BMZ, which posed several questions about the planned $1 billion contribution by the United States. END SUMMARY. DEMARCHE ¶2. (C) Drawing on reftel points, Charge Koenig strongly encouraged Germany to participate in the conference at ministerial level and to consider making a robust contribution, given the billions of dollars in donor support needed by Pakistan. Both Shinyo and Kamal also emphasized the importance of high-level German representation at the conference -- and at the preceding Friends of Democratic Pakistan meeting -- with Shinyo confirming the participation of both the Japanese prime and foreign ministers and Kamal revealing that the President Zardari would lead the Pakistani delegation. ¶3. (C) Shinyo also provided Silberberg a non-paper outlining the venue, participants and schedule for the April 17 meetings (see para 7 for full text). He explained that the strategic discussion during the morning Friends meeting would hopefully be followed up with concrete pledges of assistance at the afternoon Donors Conference. He stressed that the invitation list was still being developed and that other countries -- including Russia and Iran -- could be included. Kamal reported that Pakistan hoped for a ministerial communique from the Friends meeting and that it would seek total contributions of $6-7 billion at the Donors Conference, which he acknowledged was more than the $4 billion identified by the World Bank. He said the Pakistani government would circulate a document on March 21 to embassies in Islamabad, outlining a concrete list of proposed projects to justify this higher request for contributions. He hoped the meeting of experts in Abu Dhabi April 1-2 would take the paper into consideration in their preparations for the Donors Conference. RESPONSE ¶4. (C) Silberberg began by expressing relief that calm had been restored in Pakistan after the recent escalation of tensions over the reinstatement of Chaudhry as chief justice of the Supreme Court. He emphasized that it was important for all factions in Pakistani society to come together for the good of the country and to put destructive politics aside. That would put Pakistan in the best position to take advantage of help from the international community. ¶5. (C) Silberberg thanked the Japanese ambassador for his country's role in organizing the Donors Conference, noting that it was clear that Pakistan urgently needed assistance. He specifically welcomed the possibility that Russia and Iran could be added to the invitation list. While confirming that Germany was "ready to take on our share" of the burden, Silberberg said he could not offer a figure now on how much Germany would contribute, as this was still the subject of internal discussions. He also noted that German Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Bernd Muetzelburg would represent the MFA at the April 17 meetings. He explained that it was still not clear whether Muetzelburg would lead the German delegation since the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) had still not decided at what level it would be represented at the meetings. Shinyo said it would be "great" if BMZ Minister Wieczorek-Zeul could attend and wondered if a demarche should also be made to BMZ. Silberberg assured him that MFA would pass along the information to BMZ and that a separate demarche by the ambassadors was not necessary. BMZ QUESTIONS ¶6. (C) Econoff also delivered reftel points to Christiane Hieronymus, BMZ Head of Division for Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh in Bonn and pressed for Germany to consider announcing a significant contribution at the conference and encouraged high-level participation. Hieronymus said the issues were still under discussion, but promised to provide details when available. She also asked the following questions: 1) Does the U.S. pledge of approximately $1 billion represent entirely new money? 2) What period of time does the U.S. contribution cover? 3) Will the U.S. send the same or different delegations to the Donors Conference and Friends meetings? Embassy would appreciate Department guidance with regard to these points. NON-PAPER ¶7. (C) Japanese non-paper: CONFIDENTIAL As of March 6, 2009 FRIENDS OF DEMOCRATIC PAKISTAN GROUP MINISTERIAL MEETING AND PAKISTAN DONORS CONFERENCE IN TOKYO, JAPAN ¶1. Date and Venue April 17, 2009 Hotel in Tokyo (TBC) ¶2. Countries/Organizations to be invited (tentative) (1) Countries: Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Kuwait, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, UAE, USA, UK, EU(EC). (2) International Organizations: ADB, FAO, IFAD, ILAO, IMF Islamic Development Bank, United Nations, UNCTAD, UNICEF, UNDP, UNHCR, WFP, WHO, World Bank. ¶3. Schedule (tentative) Morning: Friends of Democratic Pakistan Group Ministerial Meeting (Chair: Pakistan) - Opening Session: Opening Statements (Pakistan, Japan, etc.) - Report on Results of Experts' Meeting (Pakistan) (1) Energy, (2) Development, (3) Security, (4) Institution Building - Free Discussion - Working Lunch Afternoon: Pakistan Donors Conference - Pakistan's Financial Needs-for the next 2 years (Pakistan, IMF, others) - Pledging Session (3 minutes for each country/ organization) - Closing Session: Adoption of Joint Statement, Determination of Total Pledges - Press Conference Note: Each country/organization is expected to take care of all arrangements and expenses related to the following: transportation to and from Japan, accommodation while in Japan, and transportation to and from the event venues. Koenig