VZCZCXRO4155
PP RUEHDBU
DE RUEHNT #0605/01 0871304
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 281304Z MAR 06
FM AMEMBASSY TASHKENT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5437
INFO RUEHTA/AMEMBASSY ALMATY PRIORITY 7738
RUEHAH/AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT PRIORITY 1843
RUEHEK/AMEMBASSY BISHKEK PRIORITY 2367
RUEHDBU/AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE PRIORITY 2264
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL PRIORITY 1365
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TASHKENT 000605 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR SCA/CEN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/28/2016 
TAGS: PREL ECON PGOV UZ
SUBJECT: CUTTING OFF YOUR NOSE TO SPITE YOUR FACE - GOU 
CANCELS INVESTOR ROUNDTABLE DUE TO US PARTICIPATION 
 
REF: A. TASHKENT 400 
 
     ¶B. TASHKENT 576 
 
Classified By: CLASSIFIED BY: AMB. JON R. PURNELL FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) A 
ND (D). 
 
¶1.  (C)  Summary:  When the Ambassador, at the invitation of 
the MFA, decided to attend a provincial investment roundtable 
in Andijon, the GOU quickly canceled the event.  A Deputy 
Minister of Foreign Economic Relations, several other 
government officials and a handful of diplomats were already 
participating in the first of three such roundtables 
scheduled to take place in the Ferghana Valley.  Diplomats 
who attended the Ferghana City event believed something was 
going on in Andijon that the government did not want them to 
see.  It is incredible to see just how far the GOU is willing 
to go to keep the Ambassador from engaging with Uzbeks in the 
regions.  The irony of the whole episode, however, is that 
canceling the roundtable provided the Ambassador with more 
opportunity to engage directly with ordinary Uzbeks.  End 
summary. 
 
INVESTMENT ROUNDTABLES, COME ONE, COME ALL . . . 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶2.  (C)  As part of a larger public strategy to promote 
investment, the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations, Trade 
and Investment (MFERTI) together with the Uzbek Chamber of 
Commerce and Industry has organized a series of roundtables 
in all provincial capitals with the aim of attracting foreign 
capital.  According to MFERTI, the purpose of the seminars is 
to showcase successful joint-ventures and potential 
investments.  The first of the  roundtables were to be held 
in Ferghana City, Andijon and Namangan March 15 through 17. 
Given the GOU's recent attempt to cancel nearly the entire 
schedule of the Ambassador during a visit to Bukhara (ref A), 
Post decided that the MFA's open invitation to all diplomatic 
missions was an opportunity not to be missed.  The March 16 
discussion provided an officially sanctioned possibility to 
interact with regional officials, deputy ministers, and local 
businessmen in Andijon.  When Post informed the Uzbek Chamber 
of Commerce and MFERTI of the Ambassador's interest, both 
organizations responded positively, even welcoming his 
remarks, if the schedule would allow.  However, just before 
emboffs departed for the Ferghana Valley, the MFA requested a 
dipnote to officially confirm the Ambassador's attendance. 
 
UNLESS YOU ARE AMERICAN 
----------------------- 
 
¶3.  (C) By the time emboffs reached Ferghana, the MFA had 
sent a new dipnote to many missions postponing the remaining 
events in the Valley.  According to the dipnote, the GOU 
decided to cancel Andijon and Namangan because of the Navruz 
holiday and a visit by Kazakhistani President Nursultan 
Nazarbayev.  Clearly this was a last minute decision, as the 
March 15 Ferghana City event, led by a Deputy Minister of 
MFERTI had already begun.  The handful of diplomats who 
participated in Ferghana City, including the Chinese DCM and 
diplomats from Kyrgyzstan, Georgia and Pakistan, had intended 
to visit all three Valley cities.  According to the Kyrgyz 
Commercial Attache, the MFERTI representative announced that 
the afternoon session of the Ferghana roundtable and the two 
following day sessions in Andijon and Namangan must be 
canceled, as he was called back to Tashkent for an emergency. 
 However, another government representative said that Andijon 
was not prepared for the event, and therefore it had to be 
postponed.  According to the Kyrgyz representative, the 
diplomats were all sure that something must be happening in 
Andijon that the government did not want them to see.  A 
local journalist who attended a dinner discussion with the 
Ambassador said she attended the investment seminar as well 
and was quite optimistic regarding the effort. 
 
PLEASE GO AWAY 
--------------- 
 
¶4.  (C) Despite the cancellation, the Ambassador traveled on 
to Andijon the morning of March 16.  At the provincial 
governor's office (Hokimiyat), the scheduled venue for the 
discussion, a clearly flustered official feigned ignorance at 
first, but when presented with a copy of the dipnote 
 
TASHKENT 00000605  002 OF 002 
 
 
invitation, ran inside to "check" on things.  During this 
time, the Ambassador was not even allowed inside the 
Hokimiyat's front gate, much less in the building itself. 
When the government representative returned, he confirmed 
that the event was canceled.  Clearly the cancellation was a 
last minute decision.  Even the string of MVD officers lining 
the street to the Hokimiyat, likely to escort the VIPs from 
Tashkent into town, had not been informed. 
 
DEPUTY MINISTER INVITES EMBASSY PARTICIPATION 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (C) In a March 24 meeting in Tashkent, Deputy Minister of 
Foreign Economic Relations Khasanov, who had himself led the 
government delegation in Ferghana City, asked to meet with PE 
Chief on a different topic.  When she told him that she and 
the Ambassador were in Ferghana on the day of the roundtable 
and planning to participate in Andijon, he seemed quite 
happy.  When PE Chief asked why the event had been canceled, 
he said that he received a phone call from Tashkent around 
lunch time and was ordered to return to the capital.  He 
stressed, however, that the Andijon event had not been 
canceled, merely postponed, and that MFERTI would welcome 
Post's participation.  He said that the other roundtables 
would continue as planned, and hoped we would be able to 
attend. 
 
COMMENT: CUT OFF YOUR NOSE TO SPITE YOUR FACE 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶6.  (C)  Comment:  It is remarkable that the GOU would go 
this far to keep the Ambassador from attending an event in 
the regions.  In Bukhara, the forced cancellations only 
affected the U.S.  In this case, however, postponing the 
event really hurt no one but the Uzbeks themselves.  The very 
idea of holding a roundtable to attract foreigners, but then 
canceling it when they agree to attend is ludicrous.  While 
we cannot say with 100 percent certainty that the 
Ambassador's planned attendance is what led to the official 
postponement of the Andijon and Namangan events, the timing, 
multiple "official" excuses, and general nervousness of all 
involved spoke volumes.  The irony of this whole episode, 
however, is that in canceling the official roundtable, the 
Ambassador and Embassy delegation had far more time and 
opportunities to interact directly with ordinary Uzbeks (ref 
B.)  Post intends to take Khasanov up on his offer, and 
attend other provincial roundtables.  We will see how the GOU 
responds! 
PURNELL