VZCZCXYZ0015
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUCNDT #2223/01 3402328
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 062328Z DEC 06
FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0890

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 002223 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: AORC UNGA KUNR
SUBJECT: UN CAPITAL MASTER PLAN: INFORMAL CONSULTATIONS 
FOCUS ON FINANCING AND COST INCREASES 
 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY: On December 4, the Fifth Committee 
(Administrative and Budgetary) continued informal 
consultations on the Capital Master Plan.  Delegations raised 
questions regarding cost increases since least year, in 
particular with regard to swing space and scope options.  On 
financing, Switzerland, Canada and China raised questions as 
to whether Member States that paid one-time and up-front 
could receive a discount or benefit for doing so.  The 
Secretariat provided clarifications with regard to the timing 
 
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of the letter of credit and expenditures.  Argentina sought 
clarification on whether a decision on drawing down from the 
letter of credit should be made now or whether the General 
Assembly could come back to this issue later.  Japan wondered 
whether the GA could devise a new definition of "on time and 
in full" for payments. 
 
¶2.  SUMMARY CONTINUED: Jamaica (on behalf of the Group of 77 
and China) asked whether the host country was going to make 
voluntary contributions to the Plan.  The U.S. delegate noted 
the U.S. complied fully with the Headquarters and all other 
applicable agreements, and that the host country and city 
funded a good deal of security costs, some of which would 
have otherwise been financed through the Plan.  The Committee 
will return to the matter on December 8, though the 
Coordinator (Syria) hoped to have an additional informal 
session to review technical matters related to assessments 
and the letter of credit.  He asked for delegations to submit 
resolution language this week, so that negotiations could 
begin as soon as all questions were answered.  END SUMMARY. 
 
 
Informal Consultations 
---------------------- 
 
¶3.  On December 4, the Fifth Committee resumed informal 
discussions on the Capital Master Plan, with Member States 
noting concerns with the Secretariat's proposal for the Plan. 
 Delegations raised questions regarding the cost increases 
since least year, in particular related to swing space and 
scope options.  On financing, Switzerland, Canada and China 
raised questions as to whether those Member States that paid 
one-time, up-front would be given a discount or receive some 
benefit for doing so (which was predicated on the fact that 
the UN would invest contributions in an interest-bearing 
account and use these funds to offset assessments for Member 
States that were paying over multiple years).  In response to 
questions by the U.S. delegate and others, the Secretariat 
clarified that a letter of credit needed to be in place by 
the time the "part B construction services" construction 
manager contract was signed, which would be approximately 12 
to 15 months after the "part A pre-construction services" 
contract was signed, most likely in December 2006 or January 
¶2007.  Therefore, the letter of credit would be finalized 
late next year. 
 
¶4.  Argentina sought clarification on whether a decision on 
drawing down from the letter of credit should be made now or 
whether the General Assembly could come back to this issue 
later.  Japan wondered whether the GA could devise a new 
definition of "on time and in full" for payments, such as 90 
days after an assessment letter was sent out (versus 30 days) 
or 80 percent of a contribution (versus 100 percent).  The 
Secretariat noted that further information on questions would 
 
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be forthcoming in writing.  Nigeria inquired as to the 
Secretariat's progress regarding fundraising activities, as 
 
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well as locating possible private donors to help with the 
Plan.  The Secretariat responded that locating a donor was 
still a possibility, but fundraising had historically proven 
to be a drain on resources with little hope of a substantial 
return on the investment.  There was nothing in the current 
budget for fundraising, and moving resources to this function 
could cause further delays, he said. 
 
¶5.  Noting the Secretary-General's proposal to consider 
payments late 30 days after assessments are issued (vs. 
received by Missions), the Russian Federation delegate asked 
the Secretariat if Member States would receive letters of 
assessment from dispatch officers on the same day of 
issuance.  He noted that there is currently a delay of five 
to seven days from the date on the letter to when he receives 
the letter by fax.  He said given the scope of the project 
his delegation would have to allow its capital ample time to 
obligate funding for the Plan.  He hoped that it might be 
possible for the Secretariat to make this adjustment for 
future CMP assessments.  The Secretariat agreed to look into 
the matter before the next informal consultation. 
 
¶6.  Jamaica (on behalf of the Group of 77 and China) 
repeatedly inquired why there were different costs regarding 
swing space, specifically related to the Library.  The 
Secretariat replied that the Library would be located in Long 
 
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Island, which had different costs for rental space and 
transportation and housing of the Library's collection. 
 
 
Swing space for Secretariat personnel would be located near 
its current location in the City, which was more expensive 
than Long Island.  Finland (on behalf of the European Union) 
wanted to know what the future estimated costs might be 
regarding maintenance of the building.  The Secretariat said 
that, based on discussions with the UN in-house facilities 
manager, costs for building maintenance should be 
considerably less since the building would be new, although 
there would be costs to maintain new systems.  The delegate 
also inquired as to whether the Secretariat had considered 
anything other than even assessments when looking at 
multi-year payment options.  She wondered why the 
Secretary-General did not instead propose assessments in line 
 
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with expected expenditure (i.e. payment of 10 percent in the 
first year, 25 percent the next two years, and 20 percent for 
the last two years) and requested further information. 
 
¶7.  Towards the end of the session, Jamaica asked the host 
country whether the host country planned to make voluntary 
contributions to the Plan, as other host countries have done 
with respect to projects in their respective countries.  The 
U.S. delegate noted that the U.S. complied fully with the 
Headquarters agreement and all other applicable agreements. 
She also noted that the host city and country funded a good 
deal of security costs, some of which would have otherwise 
been funded through the Plan. 
 
¶8.  The Committee will return to the matter on December 8, 
though the Coordinator (Syria) hoped to have an additional 
informal session to go over technical matters related to 
assessments and the letter of credit.  He asked for 
delegations to submit resolution language this week, so that 
negotiations could begin as soon as all questions were 
answered. 
BOLTON