SCENESETTER FOR THE VISIT OF PRESIDENTIAL SCIENCE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 RIYADH 000103

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR S/P BEHRMAN
STATE FOR NEA/ARP, OES
WHITE HOUSE FOR OSTP

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON PREL KIPR EINV TSPL SENV SOCI SA
SUBJECT: SCENESETTER FOR THE VISIT OF PRESIDENTIAL SCIENCE
ENVOY ELIAS ZERHOUNI TO SAUDI ARABIA

REF: 2009 STATE 71325


1. (SBU) Mission Saudi Arabia enthusiastically welcomes your
visit, planned for February 15-20, to Riyadh and Jeddah. You
will arrive just after several prominent official visits,
including Deputy Treasury Secretary Wolin and Under Secretary
of State for Economic Affairs Hormats, and just before the
visit of Energy Secretary Chu. These visits highlight the
importance both countries attach to deepening and broadening
our bilateral relationship. The U.S. Mission in Saudi Arabia
is dedicated to tearing down the figurative walls that both
sides erected after 9/11 to build a new enduring strategic
relationship. Your visit will help advance that agenda,
which is intimately linked to the President's Cairo speech,
by providing a clear example of our shared interests in
expanding cooperation in areas of importance for the Saudis.

Science as the Key to Development:
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2. (SBU) As you are aware through your participation in the
inauguration of the King Abudullah University for Science and
Technology (KAUST) last September, the King has sketched out
an ambitious plan to transform Saudi Arabia's economy away
from excessive reliance on hydrocarbons and towards a
knowledge based economy that can provide sustainable
development for the long-term. This requires nothing short
of a revolution in the education system and significant
changes in most aspects of Saudi society. Senior Saudi
officials have been candid in stressing the importance they
place on strong ties with the United States. They are
looking to attract U.S. firms to invest in the Kingdom
because our firms tend to invest for the long-term, bring the
best technology, and commit to training local staff. Saudi
officials are also very keen to expand educational ties to
the U.S., including expanding a scholarship program that has
already sent thousands of Saudi students to U.S. colleges and
universities, many in scientific and technical fields. Your
interlocutors will be interested in your assessment of areas
for further partnership and growth in our relations.

S&T Umbrella Agreement:
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3. (SBU) Science and technology has been one of the most
productive areas in our bilateral relationship in the last
several years. In December 2008, we signed an umbrella
Science and Technology Agreement that outlined seven areas of
interest. In May 2009, the two sides held a follow up
meeting in Riyadh, and the first working group, on Space, met
in Washington December 3-4. The Space Working Group
identified several areas of cooperation between the King
Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST, which is
effectively the Saudi Science Ministry) and USG agencies,
including USGS, NOAA, NASA, and DOE. Shortly after this
meeting, NASA and KACST signed an agreement to include KACST
as a participant in the Lunar Institute. Other working
groups will soon meet, including Innovation and Energy.
Saudi officials are eager to explore areas for cooperation in
developing renewable energy, particularly solar and biomass,
and for developing projects to capture and store carbon
(CCS). Secretary Chu is likely to explore the potential for
cooperation between Saudi institutions and DOE labs during
his visit planned for February.

Implementing Technology Advances:
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4. (SBU) Saudi officials are seized with a sense of urgency
about the need to develop the knowledge economy to meet the
country's significant development needs. As a result, they
tend to focus on practical results and look for projects that
will lead to real world applications. For example, a
prominent feature of KAUST's inauguration was its technology
incubator, which has already attracted investments, including
from Dow Chemical. KACST has also set up several Technology
Implementation Centers (TICs) with companies, including a
nanotechnology water desalination project and a
nanotechnology research center with IBM. KACST plans to

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create 15 more TICs over the next three years. This
complements the Saudi Government's national development
strategy, which aims to create clusters of new industries
focused on Saudi Arabia's competitive advantages. Saudi
Arabia has targeted the development of information
technologies, as well as health sciences, among other fields.

Health:
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5. (SBU) We have enjoyed significant cooperation on health
issues. CDC helped Saudi Arabia audit its preparations to
protect the health of Hajj pilgrims. This led to a series of
recommendations and a follow up visit by a seven-member CDC
team to help ensure this year's Hajj was successful and did
not contribute significantly to the H1N1 pandemic. The team
also tested a pilot screening program that will significantly
expand the speed and accuracy of information available to
public health officials in terms of tracking the spread of
infectious diseases. As this program rolls out, it will
become a model for deployment in other countries. The
Minister of Health is so pleased with the cooperation with
CDC that he has asked to sign an MOU with HHS by May, which
will expand cooperation into applied research (working with
NIH) and provide assistance on Saudi Arabia's overhaul of its
health care system. The U.S. FDA has been very helpful in
standing up the Saudi FDA, which has sought to model itself
on its U.S. counterpart. FDA teams have helped their Saudi
counterparts adopt new measures for tracking and registering
medical equipment. Saudi Arabia is also a strong partner in
combating polio, working through the Organization of the
Islamic Conference (OIC),the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC),
and the Islamic Development Bank. Saudi institutions have a
number of partnerships with U.S. companies and universities
in the health sector, including with the Cleveland Clinic,
Johns Hopkins, and Harvard, as well as an active breast
cancer initiative between King Fahad Medical City and MD
Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Saudi institutions are
particularly interested in expanding cooperation in oncology
and on public health issues. Your interlocutors will be
particularly interested in any recommendations you might have
for increasing training opportunities, particularly through
scholarships, and expanding research collaboration.

IPR:
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6. (SBU) The Saudi Government understands that an important
part of creating a knowledge economy will be putting in place
a strong regime to protect intellectual property rights
(IPR). Saudi Arabia has made significant progress over the
last several years in improving IPR protection, including
upgrading its system to evaluate patent applications. U.S.
agencies, including the Patent and Trademark Office, are
offering training for Saudi officials to support further
development, and the Embassy is working with companies to
explore the potential for expanding the pharmaceutical
industrial base in Saudi Arabia. Reinforcing the importance
of strong patent protection for the development of Saudi
knowledge sectors would help advance our agenda.

Public Support for Science:
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7. (SBU) The development of Science, Technology, and Health
enjoys broad public support, as doctors and scientists are
well respected within this society, and Saudis generally
believe that developing a strong scientific base is important
to the country's long-term development. That said, the level
of general public discourse on science and technology is not
particularly high. There is a growing awareness of the
importance of a few environmental issues (mainly waste
disposal and conservation),although cooperation on issues
like climate change remains generally low. Saudi Arabia has
been involved in climate change negotiations from the
beginning, although it has not played as positive a role in
the discussions as we would like. You may wish to consider
ways to increase awareness of environmental issues in your
public remarks.

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Potential Meetings and Press Outreach:
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8. (SBU) We strongly recommend that you consider meetings in
both Jeddah and Riyadh. In Jeddah, besides meetings at
KAUST, we would recommend you meet with King Abdul Aziz
University to address their science colleges and to meet with
published Saudi health expert Dr. Khalid Al-Madani; Shoura
Council member and former director of the Jeddah S&T Center
Mr. Mazen Balilah; and the Jeddah Science Innovation Club.


9. (SBU) In Riyadh, we would recommend you meet with KACST,
which is the engine of Saudi science and technology policy.
We would also recommend you meet with officials at the
Ministry of Health to discuss expanding health research and
training; the Saudi General Investment Authority (SAGIA) to
discuss Saudi investment priorities in the S&T sector; the
Presidency for Meteorology and the Environment (the Saudi
EPA) to explore environmental cooperation; the Ministry of
Petroleum to expand collaboration on clean energy technology
research, development, and deployment; King Saud University
to meet the next generation of Saudi scientists; and the
Saudi FDA to learn about our robust food and drug safety
collaboration.


10. (SBU) In addition to press coverage at public events
potentially at KAUST or at Saudi universities, we can work
with PAS to coordinate a webchat that may target a younger
audience interested in science education. Further, we can
use the Embassy Facebook page to reach both male and female
students and young people interested in science. You may
also wish to consider co-authoring an editorial with a
high-level Saudi official, such as Minister of Health
Abdullah Al-Rabeeah. An opinion-editorial targets a
different audience -- the readership for editorials tends to
skew towards the educated elite who have a strong interest in
science. We believe a possible theme could be the May 2010
proposal to sign a HHS MOU to cooperate on research and
health sector reform with the Ministry of Health.
SMITH