VZCZCXYZ0226
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHLO #4389/01 3321622
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 281622Z NOV 07
FM AMEMBASSY LONDON
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6450
INFO RUEHLGB/AMEMBASSY KIGALI 0070
RUEHAR/AMEMBASSY ACCRA 0358
RUEHDR/AMEMBASSY DAR ES SALAAM 0136
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 1091
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 2580
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 3567
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 3071
RUEHOT/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA 1089
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 2482
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS

UNCLAS LONDON 004389 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON EAID KHIV UK
SUBJECT: A/S SULLIVAN DISCUSSES UK DEVELOPMENT POLICY 
 
REF: A. LONDON 3454 
     ¶B. LONDON 4328 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  UK development official Shriti Vadera 
expressed an interest in closer cooperation with MCC and 
PEPFAR in a meeting with EEB A/S Sullivan.  She also said she 
has been reaching out to private sector companies such as 
Coca-Cola and Vodafone (and next Wal-Mart) to use their 
systems to help with the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) 
Call to Action.  Also on the MDG Call to Action, Justin 
Forsyth, the Prime Minister's advisor on development, in a 
separate meeting reinforced the importance of celebrating MDG 
successes.  Ref B includes information on A/S Sullivan's 
Iran-related meetings.  End Summary. 
 
Cooperation with MCC and PEPFAR 
------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) EEB Assistant Secretary Dan Sullivan met Department 
for International Development (DFID) Parliamentary Under 
Secretary of State (PUSS) Baroness Shriti Vadera November 14. 
 
SIPDIS 
Vadera highlighted the good cooperation between MCC and DFID 
in Tanzania.  She expressed disappointment that MCC funding 
is at risk of being cut, especially because MCC is an 
effective program and DFID and MCC work is often 
complementary.  Sullivan noted the positive effect MCC has 
had to encourage reforms, even in countries that do not 
receive MCC funding. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Vadera said she will be in Rwanda November 26.  She 
noted that the UK and the Government of Rwanda are working on 
a growth diagnostic report to determine what is needed to 
encourage economic growth in Rwanda.  She stressed it is not 
a shopping list, but rather is intended to delve down to 
specific actions and policies Rwanda needs to unlock growth. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Vadera expressed an interest in working with MCC in 
Rwanda because it is an MCC threshold country. She said DFID 
is focusing much more on growth since Brown became prime 
minister in June.  This meshes well with MCC's rate of return 
criteria, in her view.  Also, she said DFID is not best 
placed to fund infrastructure projects given its size, but 
DFID's work on barriers to growth complements MCC's projects. 
 She said she would like to work together with MCC to do 
joint assessments of country needs to leverage the impact of 
the work both DFID and MCC are doing separately now. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Vadera said Ghana and Tanzania are ripe for more 
work on secondary education.  Although the rate of return is 
not as high as for HIV/AIDS work, education builds skills and 
fuels growth.  She added that PEPFAR would also be more 
transformative if linked to education because girls in school 
are less likely to get HIV/AIDS.  She praised PEPFAR and its 
efforts to address the constraints due the lack of sufficient 
health workers. 
 
MDG Call to Action 
------------------ 
 
¶6. (SBU) Vadera said that although it might be difficult to 
hold a meeting on MDGs on the margins of UNGA, the MDGs are 
UN goals, and there is no other time when all the leaders 
will be together.  It is important that the leaders make a 
statement.  She noted that leaders lose credibility if they 
do not follow through on promises.  The U.S. and UK are on 
track to meet their G-8 commitments, she added, but other 
European countries are not.  She said she is trying to move 
away from the focus on giving 0.7 percent of GDP in favor of 
focusing on outcomes and keeping promises. 
 
¶7. (SBU) She said the purpose of the Call to Action is to 
figure out what everyone is doing and celebrate the 
successes.  The focus of the proposed conference can then be 
on the best way to reach the desired outcomes and determining 
responsibility to reach these outcomes.  She also wanted to 
get countries to feel responsible for their own regulatory 
frameworks. 
 
¶8. (SBU) In preparation, Vadera said she has been focusing on 
the proposed private sector component.  It is the supply side 
of development, such as skilled people and public services 
that is missing in her view.  She said she has been reaching 
out to private sector companies such as Coca-Cola and 
Vodafone to use their existing structures to help achieve the 
MDGs, rather than just giving funds.  She highlighted 
Coca-Cola's excellent distribution network and Vodafone's 
work on remittances.  She also noted that Unilever has a 
product that purifies water quickly and cheaply, but it is 
not commercially viable to develop, so assistance from DFID 
could be needed to encourage them to produce the product. 
Vadera is looking for a contact at Wal-Mart to discuss the 
possibility of sourcing some of their products from Africa. 
She said 20 companies have expressed an interest in 
participating to date.  The goal is to include companies that 
can deliver some unique service DFID is vetting the companies 
that are interested and plan to select five before the 
envisioned spring preparatory meeting for the proposed UNGA 
event. 
 
¶9. (SBU) During a separate meeting, Justin Forsyth, the Prime 
Minister's advisor on development, also cited the potential 
development benefit these private sector companies could 
offer.  He reiterated the need to focus on and celebrate 
progress toward the MDGs rather than seeking an impossibly 
perfect outcome.  On development more broadly, Forsyth wanted 
the G-8 to build on its current efforts, but also to widen 
them, such as looking what cities are doing on climate 
change.  For the Japanese G-8, he said there is potential to 
focus more on growth and development. 
 
¶10. (U) This cable has been cleared by A/S Sullivan. 
 
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