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Viewing cable 08ISLAMABAD2801, PAKISTANI OFFICIALS, ACTING AUSTR, AND U.S.

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
08ISLAMABAD2801 2008-08-23 08:47 2011-08-30 01:44 CONFIDENTIAL Embassy Islamabad
VZCZCXRO7128
PP RUEHLH RUEHPW
DE RUEHIL #2801/01 2360847
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 230847Z AUG 08
FM AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD
TO RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8458
RHEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHWSMRC/USCINCCENT MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RUMICEA/USCENTCOM INTEL CEN MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
INFO RUEHKP/AMCONSUL KARACHI PRIORITY 0200
RUEHLH/AMCONSUL LAHORE PRIORITY 5940
RUEHPW/AMCONSUL PESHAWAR PRIORITY 4741
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ISLAMABAD 002801 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/22/2018 
TAGS: ECON ETRD IP PREL PGOV PK
SUBJECT: PAKISTANI OFFICIALS, ACTING AUSTR, AND U.S. 
COMMERCE OFFICIAL DISCUSS ROZ, IPR, AND PRIVATIZATION 
 
Classified By: ANNE W. PATTERSON, REASONS 1.4 (B), (D) 
 
1. (C) Summary:  On August 13, Acting Assistant U.S. Trade 
Representative (USTR) Claudio Lilienfeld and Department of 
Commerce South Asia and Oceania Director Linda Droker met 
with Pakistani officials in the Ministries of Commerce and 
Health, the Privatization Commission, and the Intellectual 
Property Organization.  At the Ministry of Commerce, 
discussion centered around Reconstruction Opportunity Zone 
(ROZ) legislation.  Health Secretary Khushnood Akhtar Lashari 
told USG officials that draft intellectual property rights 
(IPR) legislation was currently being reviewed by relevant 
GOP ministries and would soon be forwarded to local industry 
for comments, but he predicted that domestic pharmaceutical 
producers would continue to oppose this legislation.  He said 
there was still no agreement on the definition of "new 
chemical entity" and the duration of pharmaceutical patents, 
but the United States and Pakistan agreed to hold a digital 
video conference soon to discuss this issue.  The 
Privatization Commission noted that privatization efforts in 
FY07-08 had stalled but painted a better picture for 
privatization in FY08-09.  The Intellectual Property 
Organization (IPO) claimed to have made significant headway 
in convincing Pakistanis of the value of IPR protection and 
expressed frustration over Pakistan remaining on the Special 
301 priority watch list despite customs and law enforcement 
actions against IPR violators.  IPO pledged to work with the 
USG in drafting data protection legislation.  End Summary. 
 
2. (SBU) At the Ministry of Commerce, discussion focused 
primarily on Reconstruction Opportunity Zone (ROZ) 
legislation.  Joint Secretary of Commerce Jamshed Khan 
inquired about how Reconstruction Opportunity Zones would be 
designated.  Acting AUSTR Lilienfeld noted that Pakistani 
initiative would be one way to garner greater Congressional 
support for ROZ legislation, and in this regard, he suggested 
the GOP develop a proposal outlining potential ROZ areas and 
pass it to the USG by the end of August.  Lilienfeld said 
that, once the USG received this initial GOP proposal, we 
would together review the list and decide which areas would 
make the final cut.  He also noted U.S. desire for greater 
interaction vis--vis our Trade and Investment Framework 
Agreement and stressed that intellectual property protections 
and a Bilateral Investment Treaty would help encourage 
greater U.S. investment in Pakistan. 
 
3. (C) Health Secretary Khushnood Akhtar Lashari reported 
that draft IPR protection legislation was currently being 
reviewed by relevant GOP ministries and would soon be 
forwarded to local industry for comment.  He predicted that 
domestic pharmaceutical producers would reject this 
legislation on the grounds that data protection was already 
covered under the Data Secrecy Act.  Lashari confirmed there 
continued to be disagreement over the definition of a "new 
chemical entity" and the duration of pharmaceutical patents. 
Lashari and Acting AUSTR Lilienfeld agreed to hold a digital 
video conference on these issue in the near future. 
 
4. (SBU) At the Privatization Commission, Secretary Ahmad 
Jawad told U.S. officials that Pakistan's privatization 
efforts stalled in FY07-08, in part due to exogenous factors 
in world markets, such as the U.S. sub-prime mortgage crisis 
and rising world fuel costs.  Plans to privatize a number of 
state-owned banks had been put on hold in FY07-08, and even 
this year, he said, there are sectors that are conspicuously 
absent from the FY08-09 project list, energy being one of 
them.  Still, Jawad described the list of FY08-09 projects - 
so far 16 valued at USD 800 million - as "robust".  Among the 
projects on tap in the near future are privatization of a 
fertilizer plant, an electrical complex that produces power 
transformers, the Small and Medium Size Enterprises Bank, and 
the National Power Construction Fund. 
 
5. (C) Intellectual Property Organization (IPO) Director 
General (DG) Yasin Tahir reviewed steps the IPO had taken to 
improve IPR protections.  Claiming to have "won the battle of 
mindset," Tahir credited IPO with convincing both local 
industry and Pakistani citizens that IPR protection was in 
Pakistan's best interest.  He expressed frustration that 
Pakistan remained on the Special 301 priority watch list, 
despite customs and law enforcement moves to shut down 
copyright infringers and IPR violators.  As examples of the 
GOP's willingness to tackle the issue, he pointed to a May 
 
ISLAMABAD 00002801  002 OF 002 
 
 
2008 raid of six optical disk manufacturers and noted there 
had been more than 3,000 raids since May 2005.  DG Tahir 
pledged to work with USG agencies on draft data protection 
legislation, but he was unable to provide a concrete timeline 
for the approval of such legislation.  Acting AUSTR 
Lilienfeld thanked the GOP for its actions to date and 
reiterated U.S. desires to continue to cooperate on remaining 
Special 301 issues of concern. 
PATTERSON