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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SANTIAGO 000257 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/03/2016 
TAGS: APECO KFLU SENV ETRD CI
SUBJECT: CHILE: APEC PRIORITIES FOR 2006 
 
REF: A. SECSTATE 14967 
 
     ¶B. SANTIAGO 0094 
     ¶C. 2005 SANTIAGO 02393 
     ¶D. WARD/ANDERSON E-MAIL 
 
Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Emi Lynn Yamauchi.  Reasons: 1.4 
 (b and d). 
 
¶1. (C) Summary:  The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) will 
not have an APEC Senior Official until after the March 11 
inauguration of incoming President Michelle Bachelet (ref B). 
 The acting APEC Senior Official and his technical team told 
econoffs February 2 that Chile would like to work closely 
with the U.S. this year to further a number of mutual 
interests on the APEC agenda -- including avian flu 
preparations, corporate governance and anti-corruption.  As 
an aside, the Chileans expressed concern about Vietnam's 
ability to advance APEC's substantive agenda.  Chile plans to 
host a high-level APEC conference on sustainable development 
in July and would welcome U.S. participation.  End Summary. 
 
----------------------------------- 
APEC in the Bachelet Administration 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) EconOffs met with Acting APEC Senior Official German 
King and Graciela Fernandez, Deputy Director of the MFA's 
APEC office.  King noted he would be Chile's acting APEC 
Senior Official until the new administration, which enters 
office on March 11, filled the position with a political 
appointment.  King said that the Chilean delegation to the 
February 20th Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) was still 
undecided. 
 
¶3. (SBU) King said he expected no change in Chile's active 
participation in APEC under the new Bachelet administration. 
Plans called for the MFA's current APEC technical team to 
remain in place.  While Bachelet has announced she will place 
an emphasis on building closer ties with Chile's neighbors, 
King confirmed that Chile's policy of expanding ties with 
Asia were long-term and strategic. 
 
---------------------------------- 
Continued Cooperation on Avian Flu 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (U) EconOffs raised ongoing cooperation with the Chilean 
Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Plant and Animal Health 
Service (ref C), and King responded Chile was particularly 
pleased with the 2005 APEC technical training session held in 
San Francisco.  He said Chile would continue to share 
"lessons learned" from its own 2002 avian flu outbreak and 
successful eradication of the virus.  Chile expected avian 
flu to remain a top agenda item for all APEC countries.  He 
suggested three areas of particular interest: 
 
-- Studying the economic effects of the current avian flu 
outbreak on small and medium-sized agricultural producers. 
Chile sees these countries as most vulnerable to significant 
economic damage during an outbreak and other APEC members 
should think of ways to assist this group. 
 
-- Ensuring adequate global supplies of appropriate 
medication to alleviate human suffering. 
 
-- Understanding fully the migratory pattern of the disease. 
King believes more data is needed to track transmission. 
 
¶5. (U) King and Fernandez expressed particular interest in 
receiving updated information from the APEC Health Task Force 
and mentioned Chile's support for an April 2006 APEC meeting 
of Health and Agriculture Ministers to discuss the topic 
further. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
Seeking U.S. Partnership on the Corruption Agenda 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶6. (U) Fernandez was extremely pleased with Chile's 
cooperation with INL Special Advisor David Luna on corruption 
issues, saying the U.S. had always been a leader and ally on 
this topic.  Chile is currently the Vice President of the 
APEC working group examining corruption issues, and Fernandez 
believes 2006 will be a critical year for this initiative. 
The working group has not been active in the past, and Chile 
plans to push APEC to reinvigorate discussions on fighting 
corruption.  Fernandez said either the APEC working group 
advances the issue this year or it will likely end its 
efforts. 
 
 
SANTIAGO 00000257  002 OF 002 
 
 
¶7. (U) Fernandez and King mentioned Chile's support for the 
adoption of general anti-corruption principles for all APEC 
members.  They suggested using the Organization for Economic 
Cooperation and Development's (OECD) work on anti-corruption 
as a basis for a similar APEC agreement.  Chile is also 
looking at implementation issues and is studying ways to 
build capacity among APEC countries to implement an 
anti-corruption agreement. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
More APEC Attention Needed for Corporate Governance 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶8. (U) King was pleased to hear that corporate governance was 
one of the U.S. goals for APEC in 2006.  He identified it as 
one of Chile's long-term goals as well. (ref D)  He suggested 
APEC consider some administrative reorganization, such as the 
creation of a special taskforce for the issue. 
 
-------------------------------- 
Free Trade and Promoting the WTO 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶9. (C)  King reaffirmed Chile's commitment to the World Trade 
Organization (WTO) and to the principles of international 
free trade.  He mentioned Chile firmly believes bilateral 
free trade agreements help - not hinder - the WTO.  Chile has 
successfully pursued FTAs with the United States, China, the 
European Union and numerous other countries.  He credited 
much of Chile's recent economic growth to these agreements. 
In terms of APEC's continued focus on the WTO, King said the 
December ministerial in Hong Kong had produced some positive 
results but much work remained for the WTO to conclude the 
Doha round this year. 
 
------------------------------- 
Vietnam Struggling to Keep Pace 
------------------------------- 
 
¶10. (C) King expressed concern about Vietnam's ability to 
advance APEC's substantive agenda at an appropriate pace.  He 
has been discouraged by the slow pace of meetings and 
discussions to date.  He mentioned that the Australians have 
also expressed their concerns, particularly in light of the 
fact that they will host APEC in 2007.  The Australians hope 
to inherit a healthy substantive agenda and have been quietly 
offering support to their colleagues in Hanoi.  At this time, 
King was unsure if the Vietnamese chairmanship would be 
viewed as a success by the end of the year. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
U.S. Participation in Sustainable Development Conference 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
 
¶11.  (U) King briefed on Chile's plans to host an APEC 
high-level conference on sustainable development in July 
2006, and asked if the U.S. would be willing to send a 
high-level representative.  He said plans remained largely 
undefined at this point but promised to keep the U.S. 
informed.  EconOff suggested coordinating this APEC 
conference with a planned high-level meeting in Chile to 
discuss the U.S.-Chile Free Trade Agreement's Environmental 
Cooperation Agreement.  King said he would identify possible 
dates for the APEC conference to coordinate further.  Post 
will follow up. 
KELLY