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