VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTU #0083/01 0331524
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 021524Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY TUNIS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7231
INFO RUCNMGH/MAGHREB COLLECTIVE
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC

UNCLAS TUNIS 000083 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EEB/IFD/OMA, EEB/EPPD, AND NEA/MAG 
STATE PASS USTR (BURKHEAD) AND USAID (MCCLOUD) 
USDOC FOR ITA/MAC/ONE (MASON), ADVOCACY CTR (TABINE), AND 
CLDP (TEJTEL AND MCMANUS) 
USDOC PASS USPTO (ADAMS, BROWN, AND MARSHALL) 
CASABLANCA FOR FCS (KITSON) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON EFIN EINV ETRD TS
SUBJECT: TUNISIAN MINISTER OF INDUSTRY AND TECHNOLOGY ON 
COOPERATION WITH THE U.S. 
 
Sensitive but unclassified; please protect accordingly. 
 
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Summary 
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¶1. (SBU) On January 28, the Ambassador called on Minister of 
Industry and Technology Mohamed Afif Chelbi, the minister 
also in charge of energy and small and medium enterprises 
(SMEs).  Chelbi was enthusiastic about the forthcoming 
memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the U.S. Small 
Business Administration (SBA) and the Ministry of Industry 
and Technology (MOIT), which will provide a platform for 
direct contact between Tunisian and American SMEs.  The 
Ambassador raised civil nuclear energy cooperation and also 
the upcoming trade mission to Tunisia, noting that at least 
one U.S. company was interested in meeting with the Ministry 
to discuss trade and investment.  Chelbi and the Ambassador 
also discussed U.S. investment in the energy sector.  End 
summary. 
 
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Private Sector and SME Initiatives 
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¶2. (SBU) Minister Chelbi was particularly excited about 
bilateral cooperation on the development of small and medium 
businesses.  He said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had 
approved a draft MOU for cooperation between the U.S. Small 
Business Administration, which visited Tunisia in late 2009, 
and the Agency for Promotion of Industry (API, the SBA 
equivalent in the MOIT).  Chelbi said he envisioned 
business-to-business contacts between Tunisian and American 
SMEs and would like to send an API delegation to the United 
States.  He said he would like to raise the profile of 
Tunisia in the United States, and although the MOIT had 
already done a Tunisian "roadshow" on the petroleum sector in 
the United States, other Tunisian industries were unknown to 
U.S. investors. 
 
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New Cooperation on Solar Energy 
------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) The Minister noted five U.S. companies were present 
in the energy sector in Tunisia, and hoped that number would 
increase.  He asked about opportunities for bilateral 
cooperation in the solar energy field, and referenced the 
Tunisia Solar Plan (an ambitious solar energy plan aiming to 
reduce electricity consumption by 16 percent by 2016 and 
create at least 40 private-public partnerships in the sector 
by 2020).  The Ambassador extended an invitation to the 
Minister to participate in a May 2010 conference on 
electricity in the MENA region organized by the U.S. Trade 
and Development Agency.  This would present an important 
opportunity for the Tunisian government to liaise with the 
U.S. private and public sector on solar energy. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) In addition, the Ambassador raised the issue of 
Baker Hughes, a U.S. oil services company currently investing 
in Tunisia.  Baker Hughes is seeking to expand the Tunisia 
market but is having trouble getting an explosives permit 
(required for drilling) because it cannot find the correct 
interlocutor within the GOT who can approve such a permit. 
The Minister identified the right person within the MOIT who 
could assist the company (Note:  we have since notified Baker 
Hughes of this information and are working with Mokhtar 
Hajji, the Ministry's Director of International Cooperation 
and External Relations, who was present at the meeting.  End 
note). 
 
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U.S. Trade Delegation 
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¶5. (SBU)  The Minister was pleased to hear about a February 
15 U.S. Trade Delegation coming to Tunisia as part of the 
Department of Commerce-led Executive Trade Mission to Algeria 
and Libya.  The Ambassador noted at least one company, 
Capstone Turbine Corporation, was interested in meeting with 
the MOIT as its products fit well with some of the GOT 
initiatives on renewable energy.  The Minister said he would 
gladly assist in arranging such a meeting between MOIT, or 
 
even STEG, the state-owned utility.  The Embassy is also 
following up with the Ministry to seek a courtesy call by 
Raytheon. 
 
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Civil Nuclear Cooperation 
------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) The Ambassador also raised the issue of civil 
nuclear cooperation.  In September 2009, the GOT sent the 
Embassy a diplomatic note requesting "study days" to discuss 
civil nuclear cooperation.  That same month, the Embassy sent 
a reply noting our willingness to engage on the issue as we 
had in late 2008 when Ambassador Jackie Wolcott, then-Special 
Envoy for Nuclear Nonproliferation, visited Tunisia.  Chelbi 
said he shared the nuclear energy portfolio with the Ministry 
of Education, which covers the research and technical 
assistance portfolio, and confirmed that the GOT was looking 
for partners internationally on this issue.  He said the GOT 
was studying the proposals, but did not specify if the GOT 
was preparing a response to the September diplomatic note. 
GRAY