DCM REVIEWS PARTNERSHIP, PLANNED PRESIDENTIAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 001456 SIPDIS DEPT FOR D, P, EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, EAP/RSP NSC FOR J.BADER E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/01/2019 TAGS: PREL PGOV ECON ID SUBJECT: DCM REVIEWS PARTNERSHIP, PLANNED PRESIDENTIAL VISIT IN MEETING WITH KEY GOI OFFICIAL REF: STATE 90774 AND PREVIOUS Classified By: DCM Ted Osius, reasons 1.4(b+d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: The DCM met September 1 with Ambassador Retno Marsudi of the Indonesian Department of Foreign Affairs (DEPLU). Marsudi said her visit to Washington last week had gone well. She then reviewed Indonesian perspectives on the Comprehensive Partnership and the GOI's desire for information on when an advance team would come to Indonesia to plan President Obama's proposed November visit. The DCM said we did not yet have dates for the advance team's visit. The DCM then reviewed where Indonesia and the U.S. stood in terms of key elements of the Partnership. END SUMMARY. MARSUDI ON COMPREHENSIVE PARTNERSHIP ¶2. (C) The DCM met with Indonesian Director General for American and European Affairs Ambassador Retno Marsudi on September 1. Marsudi related that her meetings in Washington last week had gone well (see reftel). She said she wanted to reiterate several points she had made in Washington. The GOI placed a high priority on the development of the Comprehensive Partnership and wanted the Partnership to be acknowledged in a separate document during a possible visit by President Obama in November. Such a document would only consist of a brief declaration announcing the Partnership; it did not have to be long. Marsudi said that Department of State representatives had agreed that that made sense, but said they would have to review the matter on an inter-agency basis. ¶3. (C) Marsudi added that she had also reviewed the USG's draft "Plan of Action," which was based on an initial draft developed by the Indonesian side in April. Based on her initial review, Marsudi said there were many positives but more emphasis should be placed on counter-terrorism cooperation and on peacekeeping, including Indonesia's plans to develop a peacekeeping training center with USG assistance. The Indonesian side would be meeting this week to review the "Plan of Action" document more thoroughly and would provide comments later. PLANNED PRESIDENTIAL VISIT ¶4. (C) Regarding the President's possible visit in November, Marsudi said she had mentioned to USG principals the idea that Indonesia would give a posthumous award to the 
President's mother, Ann Dunham, for her seminal work in the area of micro-finance. The GOI also was investigating whether to rename the school in central Jakarta that the President attended as a boy. According to Marsudi, the USG side had indicated that this would be greeted warmly and mentioned that one idea was to name it in honor of the President's mother. ¶5. (C) In terms of planning for the presidential visit, the Indonesian side looked forward to the arrival of a U.S. advance team soon. The DCM replied that we hoped to hear confirmation of that shortly, but no dates had been announced by Washington yet. He added that there was discussion in Washington of A/S Campbell visiting in early October. Marsudi said that the GOI hoped that President Obama's possible visit could be extended at least two hours on November 13 so as to allow for a state dinner. She added that she planned to speak to DEPLU's Chief of Protocol about the visit shortly. STATUS OF KEY ELEMENTS OF THE PARTNERSHIP ¶6. (C) The DCM remarked that the Ambassador planned to return to Washington in mid-September to discuss the proposed presidential visit and to review the Comprehensive Partnership. At this point, the list of Partnership items was very substantive, though both sides had to make progress on some of them. The DCM then reviewed where the following key items stood: People-to-People Ties: -- Return of the Peace Corps: There were several small areas re the proposed MOU that needed to be agreed to by both sides. A U.S. negotiator was now in Jakarta and we hoped to make progress on these items by the end of the week. -- American Place: U.S. plans to open an innovative center for outreach at a Jakarta mall were moving forward. We wanted to have a "soft" opening of this facility during the JAKARTA 00001456 002 OF 002 planned presidential visit. -- Interfaith Dialogue: The U.S. side was reviewing the Indonesian proposal for such an event. Marsudi commented that this was a GOI priority and it wanted the dialogue to be bilateral at least in name. That said, third-country representatives could also participate. -- Bali Democracy Forum (BDF): The U.S. was reviewing concrete ways that it could assist the BDF and its mission of electoral assistance in the Asian region. -- Education: The large delegation of American educators that had visited Indonesia recently had recommended the formation of a bilateral joint education commission. The USG was reviewing this idea. We were also looking into supporting university linkages and there was some funding for such efforts. Security: -- Peacekeeping: The U.S. had several large-scale projects in place meant to assist Indonesia's peacekeeping efforts, including its plans for a peacekeeping center. -- Afghan Police Training: Foreign Minister Wirajuda had expressed interest in this idea. Under Secretary Burns had raised it with Marsudi on August 28. The Ambassador would discuss it when he returned to Washington. Economic, Environment: -- Presidential Aircraft: The U.S. was working on proposals that would help Indonesia purchase a presidential aircraft. The Export-Import Bank had concrete proposals re financing and these had been passed to the GOI. -- Tropical Forest Conservation Act (TFCA): The U.S. was looking into whether a TFCA could be developed for the Papuan region, in addition to that already in place for Sumatra. -- Health: Minister of Health Supari was slated to meet Secretary Sebelius on September 16 in Washington. The next meeting of the bilateral steering committee co-chaired by Minister Supari and Ambassador Hume was scheduled for September 4. -- Proposed Science and Technology Agreement: A U.S. negotiating team was planning to visit in mid-September. -- Environmental Protection Agency: An EPA team planned to visit next week and hoped to meet with Governor Bowo of Jakarta. -- Trade/Investment: This continued to be a priority area. We had been in touch with KADIN (the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce) and it had said it would work to make clear that Indonesia was "open for business" before any presidential visit. Marsudi commented that KADIN was helping set up a business event by President Yudhoyono that would take place in Boston on September 26. Strategic Discussions: -- Regional/International issues: In addition to these key issues, the U.S. looked forward to close strategic consultations with Indonesia on regional and international issues, such as Burma, North Korea and Iran. U/S Burns had offered to visit Indonesia after the planned presidential visit in order to kick off this pattern of high-level strategic dialogue. HUME