VZCZCXRO9745
PP RUEHTRO
DE RUEHTU #0373/01 1071441
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 161441Z APR 08
FM AMEMBASSY TUNIS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4777
INFO RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI 0965
RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS 7665
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO 1602
RUEHRB/AMEMBASSY RABAT 8543
RUEHTRO/AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI 0230
RUEHCL/AMCONSUL CASABLANCA 4221

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 TUNIS 000373 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR NEA/PI, NEA/MAG(HARRIS), NEA/PPD(DOUGLAS, AGNEW) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID KDEM PGOV KMPI KIPR KPAO TS
SUBJECT: MEPI UPDATE FOR TUNISIA 
 
REF: 07 TUNIS 618 
 
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Summary 
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¶1. (SBU) Tunisia remains a difficult environment for MEPI 
programs and activities, particularly in the area of 
political reform, and some organizations remain reticent 
about receiving MEPI, or USG, funding.  We have continued, 
however, to look for new ways to reach out to the community 
and actively seek out any openings for reform-oriented 
projects, including by hosting a MEPI alumni reception early 
this year.  Embassy efforts appear to have paid off; the 
number of local grant proposals has doubled this year.  In 
addition to the three ongoing local grant projects awarded to 
the Peregrine Leadership Institute, University of Wyoming and 
DEFI SARL, MEPI has also sponsored workshops organized by the 
Commercial Law Development Program (CLDP) and the United 
States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). DEFI SARL's 
high-profile and its publications' wide reach to the Tunisian 
community has helped give MEPI high-visibility and may have 
played a role in increasing the number of local grant 
proposals we continue to receive.  End Summary. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
DEFI SARL Provokes Discussion, Provides Publicity 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶2. (SBU) A local grant awarded to Tunisian publication 
company, DEFI SARL, funded a series of four roundtable 
discussions on the following topics: "United States - Tunisia 
Free Trade: Stakes and Perspectives" (reftel), "The Role of 
the Media in the Battle Against Extremism," "Arab World - 
United States: Divergences and/or Convergences" and "The Role 
of Civil Society in Good Governance."  The roundtables drew a 
wide-range of participants, including Tunisian ministers and 
officials, academics, business people, journalists and civil 
society leaders.  US Ambassador participated in two of the 
roundtables also giving us an opportunity to spread US 
message.  In many countries, debates such as these might be 
commonplace, but the events provided a welcome forum for 
discussion on topics that are rarely addressed in Tunisia's 
public sphere.  Of critical importance in increasing the 
impact of these discussions, all four were reproduced in 
their entirety as inserts in Arabic and French in As Sabah 
and Le Temps, the daily newspapers of Tunisia's Dar Assabah 
publishing house, or in DEFI SARL's new weekly magazine 
L'Expression.  DEFI SARL's project provided much needed 
publicity for MEPI.  Although DEFI SARL received criticism 
from several Tunisian publications for working with MEPI, 
perhaps there is no such thing as bad press.  DEFI SARL's 
high-profile and its publications' wide reach in the Tunisian 
community helped give MEPI high-visibility this year, and 
likely played a role in increasing the number of local grant 
proposals we subsequently received.  DEFI SARL has submitted 
a proposal for a new series of roundtables.  The Embassy MEPI 
committee is in discussions with DEFI SARL to explore ways to 
increase the potential impact of a new project. 
 
-------------------------------- 
Reception Brings Alumni Together 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (U) On January 17, the Ambassador hosted a successful 
reception attended by 40 participants of various MEPI 
programs.  These MEPI alumni included journalists, NGO 
leaders, entrepreneurs and students.  The reception 
provided an opportunity for embassy employees to interact 
with the alumni and a chance for them to network with each 
other.  Feedback from attendees was positive, with requests 
to hold such alumni receptions annually.  Many of them were 
particularly energized by the opportunity to be able to talk 
in person to the Ambassador about their experiences in the 
United States and their current projects.  We plan to make 
these alumni receptions an annual tradition. 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
CLDP Contributes to Transformational Diplomacy 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶4. (U) On January 30 - February 1, CLDP, in conjunction with 
the African Development Bank, hosted a MEPI-funded seminar in 
Tunis on the theme: "Administrative Judges and Government 
 
TUNIS 00000373  002 OF 003 
 
 
Procurement."  The aim of the seminar was not only to provide 
technical assistance that will contribute to good governance, 
administrative transparency and fair competition, but also to 
promote the regional harmonization of laws and practice.  The 
seminar, a follow-up to a 2006 workshop on "Dispute 
Resolution in Government Procurement," brought together 
administrative judges, legal experts and procurement 
officials from Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania and Tunisia. 
Participant feedback on this program was extremely positive, 
as well as on CLDP activities more generally.  During his 
opening remarks, one Tunisian judge paid homage to a 
MEPI-funded series of consultations in the United States for 
the Center for Judicial and Legal Studies (CEJJ).  He stated 
that the 2005 trip played a seminal role in the thought 
process and the subsequent consensus building that resulted 
in a recent law on entrepreneurship in Tunisia.  The December 
2007 law represents a radical departure for economic 
regulation in Tunisia, moving towards a negative list 
approach and away from a positive list approach, where any 
economic activity not expressly authorized was forbidden. 
 
------------------------------------ 
USPTO Promotes Copyright Enforcement 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶5. (U) On March 24 - 25, USPTO, working with the Tunisian 
Organization for the Protection of Author's Rights (OTPDA) 
and the CEJJ, organized a MEPI-funded workshop on copyright 
enforcement for a group of 50 Tunisian lawyers, judges and 
customs officials.  The workshop featured presentations by 
USPTO officials, Tunisian experts on intellectual property 
rights, and representatives from the private sector.  The 
event received positive press coverage in French and Arabic 
dailies and also led to a two-page article on IPR protection 
in French weekly magazine L'Expression.  This workshop is 
part of the Embassy's broader efforts to stress the 
importance of strong intellectual property rights (IPR) 
protection to Tunisian companies, artists and consumers.  The 
Embassy's MEPI committee is in the final stages of awarding a 
local grant to a Tunisian NGO to develop a public awareness 
campaign on IPR.  Over the past three years, 33 Tunisians 
have participated in USPTO workshops in the United States. 
 
------------------------------------------ 
Peregrine Leadership Institute Local Grant 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶6. (SBU) A local grant awarded to the Peregrine Leadership 
Institute is promoting education and mutual awareness of 
leadership principles, as well as effective governance and 
business management, through the exchange of students and 
teachers.  Thus far, instructors from the Peregrine 
Leadership Institute have visited Tunisia to promote 
democratic leadership concepts and principles with senior 
leaders in Tunisian government and business.  However, the 
Institute has been granted 6-month extension to implement the 
final phase of the project.  A December 2007 lecture by 
Peregrine's President and Vice President scheduled at the 
National School of Administration (Ecole Nationale 
d'Administration - ENA) was cancelled at the last minute 
after the group was already in Tunisia.  While Peregrine was 
able to arrange events with the Tunisian Banking Association 
and the Tunisian-American Chamber of Commerce (TACC), the ENA 
cancellation reflects the complexity of programming events in 
Tunisia generally and with GOT entities, in particular.  MEPI 
is currently working with Peregrine to ensure that the 
planned exchange of Tunisian students to the Peregrine 
Institute takes place 
before the project is closed. 
 
--------------------------------- 
University Of Wyoming Local Grant 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) The aim of the University of Wyoming project is to 
enhance private sector and democratic practices in Tunisia. 
Due to the departure of the Ministry of Higher Education 
(MOHE) official in place during the project's 
inception, UW has been unable to complete a planned visit by 
an American scholar to teach a short course in English, 
focused upon research and curriculum writing.  Following a 
September 2007 trip to the University of Sfax, the University 
of Wyoming and the Arabic Department at the University of 
Sfax drafted a document detailing future curriculum 
 
TUNIS 00000373  003 OF 003 
 
 
collaboration.  Through the grant, UW participated in the 
language village of Nabeul - the GOT's immersion camp for 
university English students and a major GOT priority.  As an 
outgrowth of the relationships built through this project, a 
delegation of Wyoming state legislators will be visiting 
Tunisia in 2008.  MEPI continues to push for more 
interactions between students from both countries and an 
enhancement of the English language curriculum in Tunisia 
with the aim of enhancing and supporting the investment 
climate, entrepreneurial spirit and employment atmosphere of 
Tunisia. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --------------- 
Comment: MEPI Moves from Four-Letter Word to Known Commodity 
--------------------------------------------- --------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) Tunisia remains a difficult environment for MEPI 
more broadly and for democratic reform, in particular.  Some 
Tunisian organizations remain extremely reticent to receive 
MEPI, or any USG, funding.  Articles continue to appear in 
the Tunisian press accusing opposition leaders and 
organizations of receiving MEPI funding, referring to MEPI as 
if it were an obscene word.  And yet, there are signs that 
despite the name-bashing, MEPI is becoming a known, and 
desired, commodity.  This year we have already received twice 
as many local grant proposals as the year before.  While it 
is difficult to point to one factor in particular, MEPI 
received a lot of press -- positive and negative -- this year 
through Embassy outreach and high-visibility grantees. 
Although projects 
directly and exclusively targeting political reform remain a 
rarity, we continue to look for openings where we find them 
and hope we can help Tunisian civil society to push the 
boundaries, however incrementally.  End Comment. 
GODEC