JAPAN AND IRAQ ESTABLISH COMPREHENSIVE PARTNERSHIP

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TOKYO 000247 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/01/2019 TAGS: PREL EAID IZ JA SUBJECT: JAPAN AND IRAQ ESTABLISH COMPREHENSIVE PARTNERSHIP Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Jim Zumwalt for reasons 1.4(b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Former Japanese Prime Minister SHINZO ABE visited Baghdad January 28 as a Special Envoy of Prime Minister Taro Aso, where he met with President Talibani, Vice-President al-Hashimi, and Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih, and signed a "Declaration on Establishing a Comprehensive Partnership between the Governments of Japan and the Government of the Republic of Iraq." According to MOFA contacts, the purpose of the visit and declaration are to clearly signal that Japan remains strongly committed to helping Iraq, even following the withdrawal of its Air Self Defense Force aircraft and crews last December. In addition, Japan is preparing to announce that the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will open a three-person office in Erbil as early as this month. END SUMMARY. -------------- FORMER PM ABE VISITS IRAQ -------------- ¶2. (C) Former Prime Minister SHINZO ABE visited Baghdad January 28, arriving on a commercial flight from Dubai and departing the same day on another commercial flight to Amman, according to MOFA Second Middle East Division Principal Deputy Director Yukia Hamamoto. ABE was dispatched to Baghdad as a Special Envoy of Prime Minister Aso, and the purpose of his trip was to signal to the Iraqis and others that Japan's commitment to Iraq's reconstruction remains solid, even following the withdrawal of Japanese Air Self Defense Force planes and crews from Kuwait last December. Prime Minister Maliki was out of the country during Abe's visit, so he met with President Talibani, Vice President al-Hashimi, and Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih. He also signed a "Declaration on Establishing a Comprehensive Partnership between the Government of Japan and the Government of the Republic of Iraq." See text in paragraph 4, below. -------------- JICA TO OPEN OFFICE IN ERBIL -------------- ¶3. (C) In another sign of Japan's contiued commitment to Iraq, Tokyo is also poised to announce the intention to open later this month a JICA office in Erbil, confirmed JICA Middle East and Europe Department Middle East Division 2 Director Hideki Matsunaga. At least three JICA employees will be assigned to the office, with an additional officer being assigned to the Embassy in Baghdad to coordinate assistance projects. Currently, JICA officials in Amman supervise local workers in Iraq, but Japan would prefer to have in-country staff and believes that the security situation in Erbil permits such an arrangement. Matsunaga said that the Amman office will remain open, but with a smaller staff, to continue to work with UN agencies and small private companies based in Jordan. However, JICA hopes that its new Erbil office will take the lead for Iraq projects. He also confided that although plans call for the office to be up and running by February, he believes March is more realistic. Matsunaga said he is congnizant of the tension that exists between the Kurdish Regional Government and the central government in Baghdad, and said JICA is trying to balance their relations in order not to offend either. -------------- TEXT OF DECLARATION -------------- ¶4. (U) BEGIN TEXT of unofficial translation taken from MOFA website: Declaration on Establishing a Comprehensive Partnership between the Government of Japan and the Government of the Republic of Iraq The relationship between Japan and Iraq is old and of great significance. In the 1970s and 1980s Japan was the most important trading partner with Iraq. Japan became one of the most important countries that supported Iraq in its endeavors to establish a new political system following the collapse of the former regime. For instance, Japan provided economic assistance to Iraq in the amount of $1.7 billion of grant aid and has provided $2.5 billion soft loans out of $3.5 billion pledged in 2003. In TOKYO 00000247 002 OF 002 addition, Japan has played a leading role in reducing the Iraqi public debt of the Paris Club, reducing its $7.6 billion credit by 80 percent. Japan has also provided capacity-building assistance for the Government of Iraq offering training programs for about 3,5000 Iraqi officials and experts. Moreover, Japan dispatched Ground Self Defense Forces (GSDF) to the province of Al Muthanna to extend assistance in the region, participating in the reconstruction assistance activities with the support of the Air Self Defense Force (ASDF). While the SDF mission was completed in December 2008 after 5 years of activities, their good work was greatly appreciated and will be remembered by the local people and the entire nation of Iraq. To achieve closer bilateral relations between Japan and Iraq, both Governments are moving the relationship into a new phase in order to build a comprehensive partnership between the two friendly peoples, a partnership based on the mutual interests of both countries. The two Governments recognized the necessity that Iraq is in need of investment and technology for reconstructing and rebuilding its infrastructure, and in order to enhance the partnership between them, they have declared to promote the cooperation in the wide-ranging areas including the following: Building a partnership between Japan and Iraq in the energy sector in which specialized Japanese companies will play a big role in building the infrastructure of the oil sector, in the upstream as well as downstream, while Iraq provides Japan with a stable source for its need of oil and gas. Both sides, Japanese and Iraqi, will cooperate to implement a necessary study for the electricity sector. In addition, the Governments will encourage Japanese companies to build power stations in Iraq, especially those depending on converting the associated gases. The Iraqi Government welcomed the initiative by the Japanese side on the establishment of a financial facility to fund these activities as mentioned above. The Japanese side will provide assistance in promoting the capacity building and capabilities of the Iraqi people by providing training courses. Both sides will re-activate and reestablish a joint economic committee at the ministerial level of all relevant ministries. The committee will meet annually at either capital to monitor progress of this partnership. January 28, 2009 Shoji Ogawa, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan Shinzo Abe, Special Envoy of the Prime Minister of Japan, former Prime Minister of Japan Mouez Kadhum Al-Khateeb, Ambassador, Head of Asia, Australia and Africa Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs on behalf of Hoshyar Zebari, Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Republic of Iraq Barham Salih, Deputy Prime Minister, on behalf of Nouri Al-Maliki, Prime Minister, the Republic of Iraq. END TEXT. ZUMWALT