VZCZCXRO5147
PP RUEHROV
DE RUEHEG #0579/01 0641050
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 051050Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY CAIRO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3836
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE
RUEHBM/AMEMBASSY BUCHAREST 0018
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUEHUNV/USMISSION UNVIE VIENNA 0094

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CAIRO 000579 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/05/2017 
TAGS: PREL PGOV ECON KNNC EG RO
SUBJECT: (C) ROMANIAN PRESIDENT OFFERS EGYPT NUCLEAR 
EXPERTISE, PRODS BILATERAL TRADE TIES 
 
REF: A. STEWART-ABERCROMBIE O/I E-MAIL OF 1/31/2007 
     ¶B. BUCHAREST 243 (NOTAL) 
 
Classified by Minister Counselor for Economic and Political 
Affairs, William R. Stewart, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
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Summary 
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¶1.  (C) Romanian President Basescu visited Egypt February 
21-22 and met privately with President Mubarak, Prime 
Minister Nazif, Arab League Secretary General Amre Moussa, 
Egyptian economic ministers, local business leaders, and 
others.  Basescu reportedly offered Egypt access to Romania's 
nuclear facilities for training, and will await a formal GOE 
response to its unpublicized offer.  The Romanian leader 
listened to Egyptian views on regional issues while seeking 
to lay the groundwork for enhanced diplomatic and economic 
ties with Cairo and the region.  Gas and energy resources 
feature high on the list of potential trade collaboration 
between the two countries.  End summary. 
 
------------------------------ 
Context of Visit: Mostly Trade 
------------------------------ 
 
¶2.  (C) Romanian Ambassador Gheorghe Dumitru provided emboffs 
with a general readout of Romanian President Traian Basescu's 
February 21-22 visit to Egypt.  President Mubarak met Basescu 
upon arrival at the airport, after which the two had a 
lengthy private discussion.  Dumitru said he was not briefed 
by his President on the substance of that meeting.  Dumitru 
said President Basescu also met privately with PM Nazif, 
followed by a break-out session with several GOE economic 
ministers.  Bilateral trade with Egypt, he said, "had not 
reached its potential."  Two-way trade only reached USD 370 
million in 2005, even though Egyptian exports to Romania were 
growing quickly.  Bucharest was unhappy with the trade 
structure, he said, with timber comprising one third of 
Romanian exports to Egypt.  The GOR viewed Egypt as a gateway 
to the region, and would work with the GOE to identify a 
small number of commercial "pilot projects" to drive further 
bilateral cooperation. 
 
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Romanians Offer Nuclear Training 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (C)  Dumitro said that during President Basescu's 
45-minute one-on-one meeting with Mubarak, Basescu offered 
Romanian assistance to advance Egypt's nuclear energy goals. 
According to Dumitro, Basescu told Mubarak that Romania would 
be willing to train Egyptian scientists in nuclear power 
plant operations at its national training facility at 
Cernavoda (Italian and Canadian-built), in addition to 
providing scholarships for Egyptian nuclear scientists to 
study at the University of Bucharest's nuclear studies 
department.  The Ambassador was uncertain how many Egyptians 
could be accommodated in either program, but noted the GOR 
had decided "not to push" the Egyptians on the issue of 
nuclear training.  Bucharest will await Egypt's formal 
reaction, but does not intend to make the offer public. 
Ambassador (Note:  Dumitru had prefaced the training offer to 
the Embassy during a January 24 meeting with the Ambassador 
(ref A).  End note) 
 
------------------------- 
Petroleum Sector Projects 
------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (C) Ambassador Dumitro also described a meeting between 
Basescu and Egyptian Minister of Petroleum Sameh Fahmy, in 
which the minister, saying he was acting on the orders of 
President Mubarak, expressed a desire to identify one 
"concrete project" in the petroleum sector for future 
collaboration.  (Note: Fahmy has publicly discussed potential 
joint Egyptian-Romanian projects over the past several years, 
including the establishment of a joint venture company to 
produce drilling equipment.  End note.)  Dumitru said Romania 
was keen to develop relationships with Egypt's petroleum 
sector as part of a broader strategy to diversify energy 
sources away from Gazprom.  While Romania would like to 
import Egyptian LNG directly, Turkish restrictions on 
Bosphorous transits precluded such deals.  An alternative 
being considered is sourcing gas from the Egyptian-Arab 
Pipeline, Dumitru said.  But, he added, even though the 
Syrian portion of the pipeline may be completed within 18 
months, connections with Turkey may be delayed for a 
 
CAIRO 00000579  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
significant period. 
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