CAIRO SPEECH IMPLEMENTATION: EMBASSY TUNIS UPDATE

C O N F I D E N T I A L TUNIS 000035 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR S/P (BEHRMAN),S/SRMC (KCHANDLER),R (NOOR-ALI) ALSO FOR NEA/RA, NEA/PPD, AND NEA/MAG NSC STAFF FOR SENIOR DIRECTOR RAMAMURTHY E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/15/2020 TAGS: EAGR EAID ECON KPAO PREL SOCI TSPL TS SUBJECT: CAIRO SPEECH IMPLEMENTATION: EMBASSY TUNIS UPDATE REF: A. TUNIS 22 ¶B. TUNIS 20 ¶C. 09 STATE 130991 ¶D. 09 TUNIS 921 ¶E. 09 TUNIS 907 ¶F. 09 TUNIS 880 ¶G. 09 TUNIS 833 Classified by Ambassador Gordon Gray for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) Tunisia is on track to send five participants to the Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship, and Embassy Tunis will participate in additional entrepreneurship-related events in the lead-up to the Summit. Embassy Tunis looks forward to the planned March visit of Science Envoy Dr. Elias Zerhouni and is preparing the ground to make progress on science and technology cooperation during Dr. Zerhouni's visit. Embassy Tunis continues its outreach to civil society and business leaders on the themes of the President's Cairo speech and looks forward to opportunities for further outreach through a U.S. trade mission, an exports road show, and franchising workshops. A January 14 Cabinet reshuffle may have mixed effects since the new Minister of Higher Education has a reputation as a hardliner. End summary. -------------- Preparations for the Entrepreneurship Summit -------------- ¶2. (U) Per ref C, on January 4 Embassy delivered invitations for the Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship. Two of the five Tunisian participants hold multiple-entry visas; the others have been encouraged to apply for visas at the earliest opportunity. ¶3. (U) As a follow-up to the Ambassador's roundtable discussions in December (ref D),Mediterranean School of Business (MSB) Dean Mahmoud Triki has offered to host a series of workshops on entrepreneurship in the coming months. The workshops would be coordinated with Babson College and would also include training on management of family businesses. -------------- Progress on Science and Technology Engagement -------------- ¶4. (SBU) In a January 14 meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Emboffs informed the Government of Tunisia (GOT) of the proposed March 9-10 visit of Science Envoy Dr. Elias Zerhouni. Emboffs stressed that in addition to visiting science and technology (S&T) facilities and engaging with a broad spectrum of Tunisians on science cooperation issues, Dr. Zerhouni would seek to make progress on ratification of the 2004 U.S.-Tunisia S&T Agreement. Emboffs reiterated that while proposed amendments to the 2004 agreement would be considered, we do not concur with the GOT's proposal (per a November 2009 non-paper circulated in Washington by Tunisian Ambassador Mansour) to replace the 2004 agreement with an entirely new text. ¶5. (SBU) In a related development, Embassy Tunis received in December a draft MOU from the Ministry of Agriculture proposing "enhanced scientific and technical bilateral cooperation in the field of agriculture." The proposal is under review with USDA and will be discussed during the planned March visit of Agricultural Attache Hassan Ahmed. ¶6. (C) Comment: The GOT's cabinet shuffle, announced on January 14, could produce mixed results for U.S.-Tunisia S&T engagement. The new Foreign Minister, Kamel Morjane, is considered to be among the GOT's most pro-American cabinet members. The Minister of Agriculture, Abdessalem Mansour, has retained his position and thus may follow up on the December draft MOU. However, the key ministry for S&T cooperation, the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, is now headed by Bechir Tekkari, formerly Minister of Justice. It remains to be seen whether Minister Tekkari, who has the reputation of being a hardliner, will place S&T cooperation high on his agenda. End comment. -------------- Continued Outreach to Key Stakeholders -------------- ¶7. (U) In efforts coordinated through biweekly meetings of its Cairo/Marrakech Implementation Group, Embassy Tunis continues its efforts to discuss Cairo speech themes with key Tunisian stakeholders. The Ambassador discussed U.S. investment and economic relations with Tunisian business leaders during a January 12 visit to the city of Bizerte (ref B),and at a dinner he hosted for visiting Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz (ref A). In a January 14 roundtable discussion hosted by the Embassy, visiting NEA/PI Director Tim Andrews and civil society and business leaders discussed the increased opportunities for local grants under MEPI to fund initiatives supporting the goals outlined in the President's Cairo speech. -------------- Trade Mission -------------- ¶8. (SBU) Embassy Tunis looks forward to welcoming U.S. companies participating in the Executive Trade Mission to Libya and Algeria, to begin on February 16, on a stopover in Tunisia before the mission begins. Given Tunisia's strategic position as a platform to serve the European and Maghreb markets, companies have been invited to learn about business opportunities in Tunisia and in the African Development Bank. The Trade Mission is a good opportunity to bring commercial and entrepreneurship issues to the forefront in the lead-up to the Entrepreneurship Summit. It would also elevate the profile of U.S. investment in Tunisia - a spotlight European investors rarely share with our business community. -------------- Econ/Commercial Outreach -------------- ¶9. (SBU) The Embassy is planning a "road show" throughout Tunisia on the topic of exporting to the U.S. market. The audience will be new and established entrepreneurs and current or future exportQs. The road show will feature a presentation on how Tunisian producers can take advantage of the Generalized System of Preferences program and count on participation from the five Tunisian International Visitor participants who traveled to the U.S. recently on a Single-Country Program for capacity-building on Tunisian exports to the United States. ¶10. (SBU) Post is expecting a Tunisian implementation decree on franchises in February 2010 -- legislation that will allow foreign franchises to operate in Tunisia. If this decree is issued as expected, Post will coordinate with the Commercial Law Development Program to bring an expert speaker to Tunisia for capacity-building in franchises. Much like the export-focused road show, this engagement would include outreach outside of Tunis. GRAY