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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 STATE 050680 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON ECPS EINT APECO
SUBJECT: RESULTS OF THE APEC TELMIN 7, APRIL 20-25, IN 
BANGKOK, THAILAND 
 
This message is Sensitive but Unclassified.  Please handle 
accordingly. 
 
¶1. (U) Summary:  The seventh Asia-Pacific Economic 
Cooperation (APEC) Telecommunications Ministerial (TELMIN 7) 
took place April 20-25 in Bangkok, Thailand.  The main output 
of the ministerial was the Bangkok Declaration, which 
included key USG concepts related to WTO Doha Round 
commitments, IPR protections and technology neutrality.  In 
addition, the U.S. was able to gain commitment by the APEC 
delegates to a goal of universal broadband access by 2015. 
Finally, the U.S. delegation held bilateral meetings with 
many of the economies that attended the TELMIN.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) Ambassador David Gross, U.S. Coordinator for 
International Telecommunications and Information Policy led 
the delegation to the TELMIN.  Other delegates for the USG 
were: 
- Richard Beaird, EEB/CIP/MA 
- John Rodgers, EEB/CIP/MA 
- Meredith Attwell Baker, Acting Assistant Secretary for 
Communications and Information / NTIA Administrator 
- Fiona Alexander, NTIA 
- Ashley Heineman, NTIA 
- Deborah Tate, FCC Commissioner 
- Anita Dey, FCC 
- Nicolas Fetchko (Private Sector / TIA) 
- Leslie Martinkovic (Private Sector / Verizon) 
- Molly Gavin (Private Sector / Qualcomm) 
 
¶3. (U) The main output of the ministerial was the Bangkok 
Declaration, which included important mentions of APEC's 
commitment to the multilateral trade process (WTO Doha 
Round), protection of intellectual 
property rights (IPR) and technology neutrality. 
Importantly, the U.S. was able to push for an inclusion in 
the declaration for a commitment to universal broadband 
service access in the APEC region by 2015.  The text of 
the Declaration can be found at the APEC TELMIN website: 
www.apectelmin7.com.  The declaration, as well as 
the texts of the U.S. delegation's remarks, can be accessed 
by logging in with the following information: 
USERID - usadel20, Password: usatelmin7 . 
 
¶4. (SBU) In addition to U.S. delegation remarks and 
interaction with other delegations during the 
ministerial's plenary sessions, the delegation also held a 
large number of bilateral meetings with the APEC region's 
ministers and other high-level representatives.  Among the 
meetings were: 
- Australia: The USG delegates met formally for an hour with 
Senator Stephen Conroy, Australia's new Minister for 
Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, and his 
senior team.  The discussions primarily focused on 
ICANN and Internet governance issues, the upcoming OECD 
ministerial, the Digital TV transitions taking place both 
in the U.S. and Australia (Australia recently announced a 
transition date for 2013), as well as child protection on 
the Internet. (Comment: The relationship between the U.S. and 
Australia regarding ICT policies has been strong, but 
with our newly established relationship with Minister Conroy 
it will undoubtedly grow even stronger.) 
- South Korea: The USG delegates held both formal and 
informal meetings with See jong Choi, the Chairman of 
Korea's newly-created Broadcasting and Communications 
Commission, (combining the previous Ministry of Information 
and Communication and the Korean Broadcasting Commission). 
The delegation discussed in great depth the upcoming 
OECD Ministerial and recent developments regarding Korea 
telecoms. 
- China:  The U.S. delegation's met with Chinese Ministry of 
Industry and Information (MII) Vice Minister Xi and 
his senior staff. Topics included the recently announced 
restructuring of the new MII "super" ministry, the agenda 
for the upcoming US-China ICT Dialogue meetings in Beijing 
this June, Internet Freedom, ITU cooperation, an 
invitation for Amb. Gross, FCC Chairman Martin and Acting 
Asst. Secretary Baker to visit Tibet, the WTO Doha 
Round, CNN coverage of Chinese events (they are still upset 
with CNN's comments about China and the Chinese), 
Chinese telecoms industry restructuring, ICANN and Internet 
governance, and other related issues. 
- Thailand: The U.S. delegates met often, both formally and 
 
STATE 00050680  002 OF 002 
 
 
informally, during the ministerial with Dr. Mun Patanotai, 
Thailand's new Minister of Information and Communication 
Technology, and the senior telecoms regulator (the hosts of 
this APEC Ministerial) for discussions about opportunities to 
deepen cooperation between the two countries both 
bilaterally and at international institutions such as the ITU 
and WTO.  The U.S. delegates also discussed in depth 
Internet Freedom issues involving Google and others. (Note: 
Issues involving adverse depictions of the revered 
King are very sensitive for the Thais. Since the APEC 
Ministerial, we have continued to work with both Google and 
the Thai government on these issues). 
- Indonesia:  On the final day of the APEC TELMIN, the U.S. 
delegation met with Mohammad Nuh, Indonesia's Minister 
of Communications and Information.  During the meeting, 
Ambassador Gross raised the issue of Al-Manar Television (a 
terrorist-financed broadcast network associated with 
Hezbollah) using an Indonesian satellite and the USG's desire 
for Indonesia to take the satellite-based television station 
off the Indonesion satellite.  Minister Nuh asked 
for additional information, although he was clearly familiar 
with the situation.  Helpfully, he indicated that 
Al-Manar may not have the necessary government license to 
operate and that GOI was looking into the matter. 
Ambassador Gross indicated that there is likely to be a 
formal demarche regarding this matter from the U.S. Embassy 
in Jakarta.  The meeting also included discussions about 
future work together, especially regarding capacity 
building opportunities. 
- ASEAN:  Finally, the U.S. delegation met with the ASEAN 
Secretary General Surin for a wide-ranging discussion 
about telecommunications, the Internet, and opportunities for 
working together. 
 
¶5. (U) Comment: The results of the TELMIN 7 in Bangkok, in 
particular the Declaration, will help the USG press 
forward with its APEC telecommunications agenda that includes 
advancing liberalization, ensuring security of 
systems and increasing the use of the current APEC Mutual 
Recognition Arrangement for Conformity Assessment (MRA), 
which reduces the burden on manufacturers to market equipment 
in multiple economies.  In addition, there are 
possible new areas for cooperation that have emerged through 
the discussions in the APEC Telecommunications 
Working Group, including using ICT for monitoring climate 
change and for disaster response. 
RICE