AFGHANISTAN/PAKISTAN: REQUESTING ADDITIONAL SWISS

C O N F I D E N T I A L BERN 000171 SIPDIS DEPT FOR SCA/A (T.REOTT),EUR/RPM (A.COPE),AND EUR/CE (Y.SAINT-ANDRE) E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/09/2019 TAGS: PREL EAID MARR NATO AF SZ SUBJECT: AFGHANISTAN/PAKISTAN: REQUESTING ADDITIONAL SWISS CONTRIBUTIONS REF: A. STATE 31102 ¶B. STATE 32712 ¶C. BERN 120 ¶D. BERN 136 Classified By: POLE Counselor Richard A. Rorvig; reasons 1.4(b) and (d) . ¶1. (U) Poloff delivered the messages in reftels A and B on April 8 to Pierre-Yves Fux, Senior Regional Coordinator for Southern Asia at the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA). -------------- AFGHANISTAN -------------- ¶2. (C) Fux lauded the detailed USG non-paper (reftel A) outlining sector-by-sector the areas in which additional assistance is needed in Afghanistan. He said that it would provide useful input for internal GOS deliberations regarding Swiss programs. Fux remarked informally that this kind of USG information had, in the past, been helpful to the FDFA in its efforts to obtain resources for Afghanistan, noting in particular the FDFA's achievement in obtaining CHF 2 million (USD 1.75 million) to support the upcoming Afghan elections. He cautioned, however, that GOS resources for Afghanistan would remain flat (CHF 15-20/USD 13-18 million per year; reftel D) for the foreseeable future, because Afghanistan is not one of the countries on the GOS list of "priority countries and regions" for development assistance for 2009-2012. (Comment: The GOS list of "priority countries and regions" reflects Switzerland's desire to focus its development assistance in areas where other international donors are relatively less active and, therefore, where the GOS believes that Swiss assistance will have a greater impact. Switzerland's priority countries/regions for 2009-2012 are: Chad, Mozambique, Tanzania, Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bolivia Central America, and the Mekong region in Southeast Asia, encompassing Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar. End Comment) ¶3. (C) Reviewing the list of specific contributions that the USG is urging Switzerland to commit to provide to Afghanistan (reftel A),Fux responded that contributions related to the security sector (i.e., OMLT, police mentors, ANA Trust Fund contribution) would be difficult, particularly in light of Switzerland's decision in 2008 to withdraw from ISAF. He noted, in this context, that the FDFA had very much regretted former DefMin Schmid's decision regarding ISAF, but that the GOS still remained constrained by that decision and the domestic political realities underlying it. That said, Fux noted that the MOD subsequently had provided some surplus medical equipment to the ANA, so other security sector contributions, while clearly difficult, were not unimaginable. Fux commented that the requests for assistance in the areas of Afghan refugee reintegration and cultural heritage preservation were more promising, since the GOS already had some experience in these areas in Afghanistan and the region. He undertook to review the USG's requests for specific Swiss contributions to Afghanistan with other relevant agencies within the Swiss government and to provide further feedback when available. -------------- PAKISTAN -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Fux confirmed that Ambassador Pierre Combernous, Head of the FDFA's Division for Asia and Oceania, would lead the Swiss delegation to the April 17 Donors' Conference for Pakistan (reftel B). Fux expressed appreciation for the USG's engagement in Pakistan and said that the U.S. message would be helpful in his own internal efforts to obtain Swiss resources for Pakistan. However, he reiterated that the GOS decision in 2008 to remove Pakistan (among a number of countries) from its list of priority countries for development assistance meant that Swiss contributions to Pakistan inevitably would decline in coming years. Fux said that, at the upcoming Donors' Conference in Tokyo, the GOS therefore would only be in a position to emphasize its current level of assistance to Pakistan (approx. CHF 20/USD 18 million; reftel D). He underlined that the FDFA was looking for ways to increase the impact and efficiency of GOS assistance to Pakistan, and also was contemplating a more regionalized approach, which could possibly increase the impact of Swiss contributions. In this regard, Fux observed that there is a regional dimension to some of the areas for assistance under discussion. CARTER