VZCZCXRO3647
RR RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLZ RUEHROV
DE RUEHKO #1207/01 1230520
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 020520Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY TOKYO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3937
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI 0224
RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS 0214
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN 0359
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RUEHRB/AMEMBASSY RABAT 0328
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RUEHDE/AMCONSUL DUBAI 0085
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RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 TOKYO 001207 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NEA FOR DAS PATTON, DRL/NESCA FOR PALMIERI 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL KDEM KMPI PHUM XF JA
SUBJECT: BMENA FORUM FOR THE FUTURE PLANNING MEETING IN 
TOKYO, APRIL 24-25 
 
 
TOKYO 00001207  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY.  At the Forum for the Future planning meeting in 
Tokyo on April 24-25, participants discussed political reform 
and sustainable development as the two thematic pillars for 
the 2008 Forum.  The Forum subministerial will be held on 
June 9 in Dubai, followed by a senior officials planning 
meeting on June 10.  The Forum for the Future will be held in 
Abu Dhabi on October 18-19, with the Parallel Civil Society 
Forum occurring a few days earlier.  The U.S. delegation 
stressed that civil society participation should be at the 
same as or increased levels from previous years.  Japan and 
the UAE agreed to support the creation of a BMENA interactive 
website, and Morocco called on the G8 leaders to endorse the 
Forum at their July summit in Hokkaido Toyako.  END SUMMARY. 
 
--------------------------- 
Forum for the Future Themes 
--------------------------- 
 
¶2.  NEA DAS Kent Patton led the U.S. delegation to the first 
2008 G8-Broader Middle East and North Africa (BMENA) Forum 
for the Future planning meeting in Tokyo on April 24-25. 
DRL/NESCA Office Director Francisco Palmieri, NEA/PI Foreign 
Affairs Officer Blake Thorkelson, and Embassy Tokyo poloff 
Evan Reade also participated.  The meeting was co-chaired by 
Japanese MOFA Bureau of Middle Eastern and African Affairs 
Deputy Director General Shinsuke Sugiyama and Emirati 
Assistant Under Secretary Tareq Ahmed Al-Haidan.  Japan, as 
G8 president, and the UAE will host the Forum for the Future 
in Abu Dhabi on October 18-19, 2008. 
 
¶3.  Japan and the UAE circulated four proposed themes and 
several sub-themes for the Forum ministerial.  Delegates from 
Egypt, Bahrain, Morocco, Yemen, Canada, Germany, and Jordan 
suggested that there were too many themes for foreign 
ministers to discuss in one day, and that this year's topics 
should avoid overlap with those of other BMENA ministerials. 
DAS Patton recommended that representatives from the finance 
and education ministerials should report outcomes to the 
Forum for the Future.  Yemeni Prime Deputy Foreign Minister 
Mohy Al-Dhabbi and Bahraini Director of Bilateral Relations 
Dhafer Alumran emphasized the need for continuity from 
previous Forum themes.  Egyptian Assistant Foreign Minister 
Raouf Saad said that the theme of "political reform" should 
be changed to "political issues," but Italian representative 
Antonella Uneddu reminded all participants that political 
reform, public participation, and civil society are the core 
themes of BMENA, a point that several other participants 
seconded. 
 
¶4.  By the end of the discussion, participants agreed to 
develop further two thematic pillars with several sub-themes: 
 
(1) Political reform 
 
(a) The progress in democratic reforms and processes 
including the expansion of public participation 
 
(b) Women's empowerment (political, economic and social 
participation) 
 
TOKYO 00001207  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
 
(2) Sustainable development 
 
(a) Youth and unemployment, educational reform, vocational 
and technical training and labor market 
 
(b) Cooperation among governments and private sectors 
including civil society organizations 
 
--Environment 
--Food crises 
--Humanitarian and development aid 
 
(3) Review of G8-BMENA initiatives 
 
----------------------- 
2008 Schedule of Events 
----------------------- 
 
¶5.  Japan and the United Arab Emirates proposed the following 
2008 schedule of events, to which the other delegations 
agreed: 
 
June 9 -- Subministerial (Dubai) 
June 10 -- Senior officials' preparatory meeting (Dubai) 
October TBD -- Parallel Civil Society Forum (Dubai) 
October 18 -- Senior officials' preparatory meeting (Abu 
Dhabi) 
October 18 -- Ministerial dinner on political issues (Abu 
Dhabi) 
October 19 -- Forum for the Future ministerial (Abu Dhabi) 
 
--------------------------- 
Civil Society Participation 
--------------------------- 
 
¶6.  DAS Patton said that as the schedule and themes have been 
agreed upon, the co-hosts should invite civil society 
participants through the Democracy Assistance Dialogue (DAD) 
NGO partners from Yemen, Turkey, and Italy.  The invitation 
should state the themes for this year so that civil society 
groups can take them into account at their planning meeting 
in Istanbul on May 10.  (Note:  The invitations and themes 
were distributed to the DAD on April 30.)  The UAE called for 
more G8 NGOs to participate, but Moroccan Bilateral Relations 
Director General Yousuf Amrani cautioned that BMENA 
governments need to enhance the dialogue with their own NGOs 
first.  Alumran of Bahrain said that the president of the 
Foundation for the Future should be invited to the 
subministerial to provide an update on its programs. 
 
¶7.  In a side meeting with the UAE's Al-Haidan, DAS Patton 
stressed the importance of maintaining at least the same 
number of civil society participants as in prior years, i.e., 
25 in the subministerial and 56-60 in the Forum ministerial. 
He also informally discussed with several delegations ways to 
ensure that civil society initiatives prepared for the Sanaa 
Forum, such as the BMENA NGO Principles, could be 
incorporated into this year's events. 
 
TOKYO 00001207  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
 
-------------------- 
Follow-up Mechanisms 
-------------------- 
 
¶8.  Egypt's Saad recommended a new mechanism consisting of an 
end-of-year report by the co-chairs, including a summary of 
the year's activities and recommendations for the next year's 
co-chairs.  Alumran of Bahrain said that the Forum Chair's 
Summary is sufficient and suggested an interactive BMENA 
website based in a G8 country.  The website would serve as a 
central clearing-house on all the BMENA initiatives and 
points of contact.  The German representative thought that 
email communication was sufficient, but the Italian 
representative thought the website proposal was useful and 
proposed that the DAD NGOs assist in maintaining it. 
Sugiyama agreed that Japan and the UAE could launch a website 
together and promised to discuss the proposal again at the 
June 9 subministerial.  Amrani of Morocco also asked Japan as 
the co-host to explore a G8 leaders' endorsement of the Forum 
in the July 7-9 Hokkaido Toyako Summit documents.  (Note:  In 
a side conversation, Sugiyama asked DAS Patton for U.S. 
assistance in garnering G8 support for the inclusion of such 
language.) 
 
¶9.  DAS Patton has cleared this message. 
DONOVAN