VZCZCXRO0120
PP RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHC #9358/01 1551542
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 031533Z JUN 08
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 STATE 059358 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL ECIN ASEAN
SUBJECT: 21ST ASEAN - U.S. DIALOGUE MEETING IN SINGAPORE, 
MAY 10 
 
¶1.  Summary and introduction.  The 21st ASEAN - U.S. Dialogue 
meeting took place in Singapore on May 10.  The U.S. 
delegation was led by Ambassador for ASEAN Affairs Scot 
Marciel, who co-chaired the meeting with Peter Ho, Permanent 
Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Singapore. 
The U.S. delegation included officials from State, Treasury 
and USAID.  The discussions covered the full range of 
developments in U.S. - ASEAN relations.  Permanent Secretary 
Ho and other ASEAN representatives praised "ADVANCE", the 
program recently launched by the U.S. to support cooperation 
with ASEAN.  The meeting also discussed regional and global 
issues of common interest.  Ambassador Marciel expressed 
sympathy for the victims of Cyclone Nargis and noted that, 
notwithstanding U.S. concerns about the constitutional 
referendum then underway, the American interest in is saving 
lives not scoring political points.  He urged ASEAN to convey 
to Burmese authorities the urgency of providing access to 
relief supplies and personnel offered by the international 
community.  End summary and introduction. 
 
¶2.  In his welcoming remarks, Permanent Secretary Ho 
congratulated Ambassador Marciel on his recent confirmation. 
He called the U.S. a pathfinder in creating this position, 
and said they hoped other ASEAN Dialogue Partners will follow 
suit.  Other ASEAN senior officials in their interventions 
throughout the meeting echoed Ho's congratulations and warmly 
welcomed U.S. leadership in creating the position of 
Ambassador for ASEAN Affairs.  Permanent Secretary Ho also 
highlighted the new ADVANCE program that supports cooperation 
between ASEAN and the U.S., the Trade and Investment 
Framework Arrangement (TIFA), and cooperation to implement 
ASEAN's Vientiane Action Program as concrete steps in 
developing ASEAN - U.S. relations.  Ambassador Marciel 
responded, noting ASEAN's development progress, particularly 
through the signing of its Charter and the implementation of 
its political/security, economic and socio/cultural 
communities.  The U.S. is supporting ASEAN's efforts by 
implementing the Joint Vision Statement on the ASEAN - U.S. 
Enhanced Partnership announced by the President and ASEAN 
leaders. 
 
¶3.  Developments in ASEAN dominated the discussion of global 
and regional issues.  Permanent Secretary Ho cited the 
signing of the ASEAN Charter last November as a milestone 
that will make ASEAN a more rules based organization.  By the 
end of the year the Secretariat in Jakarta will be 
strengthened and permanent representatives from member 
countries will be posted there by July 2009.  Six of the ten 
ASEAN member countries have already ratified the Charter, but 
ASEAN is already working to bring it into effect, for example 
through the development of an ASEAN human rights body, which 
he described as a significant step.  A high level panel is 
developing terms of reference and a scope of work for the 
human rights body, and will report to foreign ministers at 
their annual meeting in July.  Several ASEAN delegations 
echoed Permanent Secretary Ho's comments.  Ambassador Marciel 
responded the U.S. welcomes the Charter, which we see as 
having the potential to transform ASEAN into a stronger and 
more effective organization.  Our goal is to be supportive of 
ASEAN's goals.  We also are willing to be supportive of the 
planned human rights body and we are prepared to provided 
technical assistance if desired. 
 
¶4.  Indonesia led a discussion of regional architecture and 
development of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), the ASEAN  3 
(ASEAN plus China, Japan and Korea) and the East Asia Summit. 
 ASEAN will continue to play a central role in these groups. 
ASEAN officials see each of these organizations as having a 
different footprint and are suited for different issues. 
They did not see duplication or overlap.  Ambassador Marciel 
said the U.S. welcomed pan-Asian and trans-Pacific regional 
integration, but we are looking to see how all these groups 
fit together.  Our focus in the region is on APEC and the 
ARF.  EAP/RSP Director Hall also described discussion taking 
place on a Northeast Asia Peace and Security Mechanism 
(NEAPSM), followed by a discussion of the status of the 
Six-Party Talks. 
 
¶5.  Developments in the Middle East are a traditional topic 
at ASEAN Dialogue meetings.  Ambassador Marciel described 
U.S. views  of the Middle East peace process, the situation 
in Iraq and Iran's nuclear program.  Malaysia responded, 
recognizing Israel's security concerns, but criticizing its 
actions in Gaza as disproportionate and amounting to 
collective punishment.  Malaysia urged that efforts be made 
to include the Sunnis in the political process in Iraq. 
Regarding Iran, Malaysia said it supported the right of all 
countries to produce nuclear technology for peaceful 
 
STATE 00059358  002 OF 002 
 
 
purposes. 
 
¶6.  ASEAN and U.S. officials discussed their cooperation, 
including several projects that have been proposed or are 
underway.  ASEAN delegations in particular welcomed the 
ADVANCE program, funded by the State Department and USAID, as 
a means of greatly increasing cooperation.  Brunei, Laos and 
Cambodia in particular thanked the United States for its 
support.  The ASEAN Secretariat reviewed the cooperation that 
is taking place with the U.S. and hoped that cooperation 
could be increased on disaster management, drugs, and 
trafficking in persons.  Because of serious impact of Cyclone 
Nargis on Burma, there was extensive discussion of disaster 
management throughout the meeting.  The ASEAN Secretariat 
invited the U.S. to consider helping to implement Phase II of 
the Incident Command System training and expressed interest 
in cooperation on disaster risk reduction.  Ambassador 
Marciel described other highlights of U.S. cooperation with 
ASEAN, including the beginning of the ASEAN Fulbright 
Scholars program, work on the environment, particularly the 
successful Wildlife Enforcement Network, and extensive 
capacity building on intellectual property rights protection. 
 Officials discussed the Science and Technology Agreement 
that is being negotiated by technical officials and agreed on 
the importance of concluding the agreement in time for it to 
be signed at the ASEAN Post Ministerial Conference in 
Singapore on July 23. 
 
¶7.  The Dialogue meeting discussed cooperation on counter 
terrorism and transnational crime.  The Philippines cited the 
ASEAN Convention on Counter Terrorism that is being 
implemented and the Joint Declaration for Cooperation to 
Combat Terrorism that ASEAN concluded with the United States. 
 ASEAN welcomed work proposed on a rewards program, maritime 
domain awareness and the consultancy on counter terrorism 
work in ASEAN supported by the U.S, now completed.  Laos 
asked the U.S. to play a greater role in this area and 
suggested more consultations between the Senior Officials 
Meeting on Transnational Crime and the United States. 
 
¶8.  Private sector business executives join the discussion of 
economic issues in the annual Dialogue and members of the 
U.S. - ASEAN Business Council attended the meeting.  The 
President of the Council noted that the private sector 
provided over $750 million in assistance after the Indian 
Ocean tsunami.  American businesses were prepared to help 
again to assist in responding to the crisis caused by Cyclone 
Nargis in Burma.  Other business comments were on the general 
need for ASEAN to reduce barriers to trade and investment. 
The representative from Cargill described the major 
importance of the food industry in Southeast Asia, noting his 
company alone has 25,000 direct employees and provide 
indirect employment for 200,000 others.  Trade barriers are a 
particular difficulty for in the food industry in the ASEAN 
region.  The representative of Johnson and Johnson described 
the growing healthcare industry and importance of regulatory 
harmonization across ASEAN member countries and the need for 
a regional strategy to combat counterfeit medicines.  The 
representative of UPS noted that her company moves 2 per cent 
of the world's GDP at any given time.  Given that volume of 
trade, the development of the ASEAN Single Window, a customs 
clearance system that will allow shippers to submit 
information and data through a single process and decision 
point, is extremely important. 
RICE