VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHMN #0580/01 2821213
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 091213Z OCT 09
FM AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9398
INFO RUCNMER/MERCOSUR COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS MONTEVIDEO 000580 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON EFIN ETRD UY
SUBJECT: URUGUAY: DAS BASTIAN TOUTS U.S. BUSINESS' ROLE IN 
URUGUAY, MEETS PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE MUJICA 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶1. (U) SUMMARY:  Department of Commerce DAS Walter Bastian 
stressed opportunities for commercial and technical exchange 
with Uruguay, especially at the state level, and emphasized 
to U.S. business representatives the importance of corporate 
social responsibility and their roles as representatives of 
the U.S.  During his October 1-2 visit, Bastian met with the 
Minister of Industry, Uruguay,s chief trade negotiator, 
Presidential candidate Jose Mujica, and had lunch with 
members of the American Chamber of Commerce.  He participated 
in a press round table and met with one of Uruguay,s leading 
experts on innovation to discuss ways to leverage Uruguay,s 
experience developing its One Laptop Per Child program, Plan 
Ceibal.    END SUMMARY. 
 
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MINSTER OF INDUSTRY - RAUL SENDIC 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Bastian met Minister of Industry, Energy and Mining 
(MIEM) Raul Sendic and his deputy Roberto Kreimerman.  Sendic 
described the GOU,s energy policy, focused on developing 
alternative energy, interconnection with Brazil and 
Argentina, upgrading its oil refinery and exploration of 
potential off-shore natural gas deposits.  Sendic, who was 
president of the state oil company ANCAP until September, 
also identified software development, shipyards, auto parts 
and textiles as key sectors in which Uruguay was well 
positioned for future growth.  He said while Uruguay had 
dodged some of the worst effects of the global economic 
crisis, the textiles and wool apparel sector had been hit 
hard.   Bastian congratulated the Ministry for its role 
following up on the Competitiveness Forum in Atlanta by 
holding its own regional Innovation Forum for each of the 
past two years.  He suggested that the Department of Commerce 
work with the Embassy to set up video conferences to 
highlight opportunities in Uruguay in sectors such as 
software and textiles.  The key first step would be to raise 
awareness among potential partners in the U.S. of the 
opportunities in Uruguay.  He mentioned North Carolina,s 
successful transformation of its poor economy and moribund 
traditional textile sector into a leader in several areas, 
including micro-fibers and high tech fabrics.  Sendic 
mentioned recent MIEM efforts to promote corporate social 
responsibility (CSR), a relatively new concept in Uruguay. 
 
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LEVERAGING URUGUAY,S EXPERIENCE WITH ONE LAPTOP PER CHILD 
PROGRAM 
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¶3.  (U) Miguel Brechner, President of Uruguay,s 
Technological Laboratory, and board member of its Innovation 
Agency, sought ways to leverage Uruguay,s unique experience 
as the first country to achieve universal primary school-age 
coverage with the One Laptop Per Child program ) Plan 
Ceibal.  Brechner asked for help getting U.S. researchers and 
educational specialists to come to Uruguay and investigate 
its experience with One Laptop Per Child.  Brechner envisions 
Uruguay as case study for research on educational, social, 
medical impacts, among a wide variety of other research 
fields.  Brechner emphasized that Uruguay could potentially 
bring IDB funds to the table as a matching contribution. 
Bastian agreed to raise the idea with the U.S. Executive 
Director at the IBD in an upcoming meeting.  He also offered 
to facilitate a conversation with academic experts from the 
U.S. to generate ideas with Brechner,s team on a specific 
proposal. 
 
¶4.  (U) Brechner also sought ideas on how the U.S. could 
support identifying new projects for a core group of 90 staff 
(mostly engineers) who have worked on the One Laptop Per 
Child program.  The unit oversaw the development and roll-out 
of the program in Uruguay, created content for the computers 
and coordinated its integration into the curriculum.  He said 
Plan Ceibal has signed a MOU with Nicolas Negroponte,s One 
Laptop Per Child team at MIT to support the roll out of the 
program in other countries, especially in Latin America. 
Brechner asked Bastian and the Embassy to help make Uruguayan 
know-how on One Laptop Per Child available. 
 
----------------------------------- 
CHIEF TRADE NEGOTIATOR - ALVARO ONS 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU)  In a conversation with Chief Trade Negotiator 
Alvaro Ons on next steps for the Trade and Investment 
 
Framework Agreement (TIFA), Ons asked for expert advice on 
standing up a GOU purchasing system that would promote 
development and for trade facilitation related to customs 
operations.  Bastian suggested state-level procurement would 
be better a model for Uruguay given its purchasing volumes. 
Bastian offered to discuss with USTR possibilities to bring 
customs officials, state procurement officials and/or U.S. 
trade attorneys to Uruguay to share best practices, in person 
or via video conference.  Ons also reiterated Sendic,s 
points in para 3 that Uruguay,s textile and apparel sector 
was an area of key focus for the GOU. 
 
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AMCHAM / U.S. BUSINESS 
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¶6.  (SBU) Bastian met representatives of U.S. companies at a 
reception in his honor and attended a luncheon with board 
members of the U.S. - Uruguay Chamber of Commerce.  During 
the lunch, Lacalle economic advisor Ignacio de Posadas 
explained that Uruguay had escaped more serious effects from 
the global crisis as a result of weathering its own regional 
crisis in 2002.  He said the 2008 drop in commodity prices 
was moderate, and company and household debt levels were 
relatively low.  He commented that while exports had been the 
engine of growth in the past, domestic consumption, fueled by 
real wage increases, kept GDP figures buoyant.  On regional 
commercial relations, De Posadas commented that Brazil was 
more important to Uruguay than the U.S.  "The U.S. is 
important, but Uruguay would need to wait and see how the 
U.S./Brazil relationship developed in order to determine 
where it could fit in," he added. 
 
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BASTIAN,S MEETING WITH MUJICA AND ASTORI 
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¶7. (SBU) The ruling Frente Amplio (FA) coalition presidential 
candidate and running mate visited the Embassy October 2 to 
meet with Bastian.  It was the first-ever visit to the 
Embassy of presidential candidate  and Senator Jose Mujica, 
who was accompanied by his running mate, Senator Danilo 
Astori.  Bastian began by explaining Obama administration 
priorities in the region.  He acknowledged the always-high 
level of local curiosity about the possibility of a bilateral 
free trade agreement, and explained the unlikelihood of 
beginning negotiations while agreements with Colombia, 
Panama, and South Korea are still pending.   Instead, Bastian 
said, both sides should continue moving forward using the 
existing bilateral Trade and Investment Framework Agreement 
(TIFA), which he described as a model.   Specifically, 
Bastian noted the possibility of progress in the areas of 
customs facilitation and government procurement.  Examining 
additional ways to deepen the bilateral relationship, Bastian 
suggested bringing U.S. researchers from targeted academic 
specialties to Uruguay; strengthening and expanding programs 
involving student exchanges; and sharing U.S. expertise in 
areas such as how to involve small and medium-sized 
businesses in government procurement.   Bastian summed up by 
saying that the U.S. and Uruguay have many shared challenges 
(e.g. climate change), and that the U.S. wants to be working 
closely with whatever government comes to power after 
Uruguay's presidential elections in late 2009. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Mujica responded enthusiastically to Bastian's 
suggestions, lamenting Uruguay's lack of a scientific 
research establishment and the flight to countries with 
better prospects by Uruguay's most talented young scientists 
and researchers.  As he often does in public, Mujica 
unfavorably contrasted Uruguay with New Zealand, a country he 
had visited that impressed him with its seriousness of 
purpose and foresight.   Astori extolled the TIFA and our 
bilateral investment treaty (BIT) as two "excellent" 
instruments that have already produced tangible results (e.g. 
the opening of the U.S. market to Uruguayan blueberries), and 
noted that much progress in the bilateral relationship could 
be made using those tools.   Both Mujica and Astori stressed 
to Bastian their interest in excellent relations with the 
U.S. 
 
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PRESS 
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¶9. (U) Bastian participated in a press round table following 
up on a joint interview he gave to a group of Uruguayan 
journalists who traveled to Washington as part of an Embassy 
Public Diplomacy program. 
Matthewman