This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MUSCAT 000852 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARP, EB/CBA (WBEHRENS), DRL (JDEMARIA) 
STATE PASS USTR FOR J. BUNTIN, A. ROSENBERG 
STATE ALSO FOR INR/B 
LABOR FOR ILAB (J. SHEA) 
USDOC FOR ITA (C. OBERG) 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/31/2016 
TAGS: ETRD PREL ELAB KBCT EPET PINR IR MU
SUBJECT: COMMERCE MINISTER CONCERNED ABOUT FTA, DESCRIBES 
IRAN TRADE 
 
REF: MUSCAT 793 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Gary A. Grappo.  Reason: 1.4 (b, d). 
 
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Summary 
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¶1. (C) Minister of Commerce and Industry Maqbool Sultan, long 
impatient over the slow pace of Free Trade Agreement 
ratification in Congress, claims he has abandoned hope of any 
progress and is contemplating suspending the work of Oman's 
expensive advisers in Washington until prospects improve. 
The Minister says embarrassment over the FTA is keeping 
high-level Omanis from the upcoming U.S.-Arab Economic Forum 
in Houston, and puts in limbo Omani participation in a 
USG-funded MEFTA trade conference in London in September.  He 
reports that Oman nevertheless stands by its labor reform 
commitments.  The Minister also discussed prospects for 
increased Omani trade and investment with Iran, and the 
Sultanate's need for additional sources of natural gas.  End 
summary. 
 
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Caught in Partisan Crossfire 
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¶2. (C) In a May 27 meeting with the Ambassador, Minister of 
Commerce and Industry Maqbool Sultan despaired over continued 
partisan sparring in Congress over the U.S.-Oman Free Trade 
Agreement (FTA), saying he has "lost hope" for ratification. 
When the Ambassador noted that the U.S. Treasury Department 
had finally agreed to remove Oman from the list of states 
supporting the Arab League boycott of Israel, the Minister 
tersely replied that that step was several years overdue, and 
in any event, the boycott never became an issue on the Hill. 
 
¶3. (C) The Minister said he fully realized that labor rights 
in Oman was simply the pretext for partisan skirmishing in 
the House Ways and Means Committee in this mid-term election 
year.  While he claimed not to be taking personal offense 
over congressional concerns about "slave labor" in Oman, he 
was alarmed at the daily cost to the Sultanate in legal and 
consultancy fees for every hour of congressional delay.  The 
Minister said he was seriously considering stopping payment 
for further such services, believing that Oman's efforts to 
respond to Congressional ultimatums merely encouraged 
additional demands.  If the battles in Congress are strictly 
partisan, he said, Oman should step back and wait for the 
fighting to subside. 
 
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No Time to Trumpet FTA at International Fora 
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¶4. (SBU) The Ambassador encouraged high-level Omani 
attendance at the June 26-28 U.S.-Arab Economic Forum in 
Houston, saying it would be an ideal opportunity for Oman to 
market itself and the FTA to top business leaders.  The 
Minister reiterated his earlier indications that he could not 
attend, citing the timeframe as a rare opportunity for him to 
visit his daughter during her school break in Australia. 
 
¶5. (C) The Minister added that he would not have attended 
regardless, given the embarrassing state of the FTA 
non-ratification.  He said he refuses even to grant press 
interviews on the subject, since any sign of Omani 
anticipation of the FTA seems to produce further delays in 
Congress.  The Minister affirmed his personal belief in the 
significant benefits to Oman of the U.S. FTA, and said he 
fought hard within the Omani government on its behalf.  "We 
saw this as a way to transform our economy.  But now I'm 
helpless.  I can't do anything." 
 
¶6. (SBU) As for attending a State Department-sponsored MEFTA 
Trade and Investment Conference in London on September 19, 
the Minister said his calendar was free and that he is 
personally interested in attending, but would not formally 
commit before FTA ratification.  He noted that the Omani 
ambassador in Washington had reported to him that House 
Democrats suggest delaying ratification until after the 
October 31 deadline Oman had offered by which to adopt a host 
of labor reforms.  The Minister concluded that such a delay 
might postpone the FTA vote until 2007. 
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Standing By Labor Reform Commitments 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶7. (SBU) The Minister affirmed that Oman was well on-track to 
meeting its labor reform commitments (made not only to 
Congress but also to the International Labor Organization) 
and stands firmly by its deadline.  (Note: The Minister of 
Manpower showed tangible evidence of labor reform progress in 
a May 31 meeting with Ambassador, septel.  End note.)  He 
said Oman's reform efforts will be far simpler than has been 
the case in Bahrain, assuring the Ambassador that all 
relevant Omani ministers were fully on board with the reform, 
and that the Sultan will be far more accommodating than the 
Bahraini parliament has been. 
 
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Prospects for Trade with Iran 
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¶8. (SBU) In response to the Ambassador's query, the Commerce 
Minister described Oman-Iran trade relations as good but 
modest in volume.  As chairman of the Oman-Iran Joint 
Committee on Trade, he said he had traveled to Iran in 
February for talks.  Oman's Musandam Peninsula is the primary 
beneficiary of bilateral trade, being a re-export center to 
Iran for goods mostly purchased in the UAE.  Even that trade, 
however, is well below the levels of a few years ago after 
the UAE Emirate of Ras al-Khaimah made upgrades to its port 
facilities.  He noted that Musandam residents are complaining 
to Muscat for similar port upgrades to better compete. 
 
¶9. (SBU) The Minister said Iran's trade focus is largely on 
the UAE, Qatar, and Bahrain.  Oman is in talks with Iran on 
an ethylene dichloride project (with Iran to supply the 
ethylene), but the deal is still under study.  Oman is also 
deeply interested in buying Iranian gas, to be delivered by 
pipeline into Oman's growing industrial port of Sohar.  The 
Minister revealed that Oman's current gas imports, combined 
with domestic production, are still inadequate for its needs, 
but that Oman has yet to convince either Qatar or the UAE's 
Dolphin project to increase its supplies.  The ideal solution 
would be for Oman to increase its own production, but the 
Minister evinced little confidence in that prospect.  He said 
Oman was also interested in finding investment projects in 
Iran, but offered no examples. 
 
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Comment 
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¶10. (C) While clearly frustrated by the slow FTA progress in 
Congress, the often petulant Minister is not about to give up 
on something so important to the country.  He doubtlessly 
expended personal capital to move the FTA through the Omani 
bureaucracy and approved compromises not previously 
anticipated, and is eager to receive his laurels.  So far, 
however, we have not heard such complaints from others, 
either unaware of Congress' activities or simply more patient. 
GRAPPO