VZCZCXYZ0004
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHKU #0883 0741131
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 151131Z MAR 06
FM AMEMBASSY KUWAIT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3472
INFO RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 1192
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0952

UNCLAS KUWAIT 000883 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARP, EB/FO, S/I, LONDON FOR TSOU, PARIS FOR 
ZEYA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID PGOV PREL ECON IZ KU
SUBJECT: KUWAIT FUND WELCOMES USG ENGAGEMENT WITH ARAB 
DONOR ORGANIZATIONS 
 
REF: A. KUWAIT 399 
 
     ¶B. KUWAIT 087 
 
¶1. (SBU)  On March 8, Econoff met with Marwan Al-Ghanem, 
Regional Manager for Arab Countries at the Kuwait Fund for 
Arab Economic Development (KFAED) to discuss the possibility 
of USG participation in upcoming multilateral planning 
meetings of Arab donor organizations in an effort to enhance 
coordination and information exchange on development 
priorities.  (Note:  Per ref B, the idea of USG consultation 
in connection with upcoming Arab donor organization meetings 
was first broached during Assistant Secretary Tony Wayne's 
visit in January in meetings with GOK officials, including 
the Director General of KFAED.) 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Al-Ghanem welcomed USG informal participation at 
the KFAED-hosted donor conference on Iraq, tentatively 
scheduled for June in Kuwait following the April board 
meeting of the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development 
(AFESD).  However, he cautioned that conference planning was 
still in its formative stages, explaining that the Iraqi 
Transitional Government had requested the conference in order 
to secure funding from Arab states for Iraq's power sector 
needs, including the estimated $850 million power station in 
northern Iraq (reported in ref A).  Al-Ghanem did not object 
to holding side-meetings between USG officials and Arab donor 
organization representatives in an effort to foster closer 
coordination and information exchange. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Al-Ghanem also pointed to the upcoming meeting of 
the Coordination Group of Arab National and Regional 
Development Institutions (Arab Aid) as another important 
opportunity for USG engagement and encouraged USG follow-up 
with the Secretariat of the Coordination Group at AFESD. 
(Note: Econoff has contacted AFESD and is awaiting conference 
details.  Arab Aid is comprised of 5 multilateral and 3 
bilateral donor organizations including the Islamic 
Development Bank, the OPEC Fund for International 
Development, AFESD, the Arab Bank for Economic Development in 
Africa, the Arab Gulf Programme for UN Development 
Organizations, KFAED, the Saudi Fund for Development, and the 
Abu Dhabi Fund for Development.  Additional information is 
available at www.arabaid.org.) 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Post believes USG interests could benefit from side 
meetings in connection with the KFAED conference, perhaps 
through participation of IRMO Director Ambassador Speckhard 
to discuss USG assistance priorities in Iraq in an effort to 
enhance coordination with Arab donors.  Post will also 
follow-up with the Arab Fund organizers regarding USG 
participation at the upcoming Coordination Group meeting of 
Arab donor organizations. 
 
******************************************** 
For more Embassy Kuwait reporting, see: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/index. cfm?cables 
Or Visit Embassy Kuwait's Classified Website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/ 
******************************************** 
LEBARON