VZCZCXRO7748
RR RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHJA #1927/01 2910436
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 170436Z OCT 08
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0347
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 2612
RUEHPF/AMEMBASSY PHNOM PENH 0533
RUEHML/AMEMBASSY MANILA 3262
RUEHHI/AMEMBASSY HANOI 0630
RUEHBK/AMEMBASSY BANGKOK 8544
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 2332
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 3168
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON 3171
RUEHGP/AMEMBASSY SINGAPORE 6346
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 001927 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/RSP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, EAP/EP 
DEPT FOR EB/IFD/OMA 
DEPT ALSO FOR OES/IET AND OES/ETC/TED 
USAID FOR ASIA/ELLIS AND JENNINGS 
BANGKOK FOR USAID/KISSINGER 
CAMBODIA FOR USAID 
MANILA FOR USAID 
HANOI FOR USAID 
SINGAPORE FOR BAKER 
STATE PASS USTR FOR EHLERS 
 
E.O. 12598: N/A 
TAGS: ECON PHUM PREL PGOV KDEM ID BM
SUBJECT: DONORS PROPOSE COLLECTIVE ACTION TO STRENGTHEN ASEAN 
SECRETARIAT 
 
REF: Jakarta 1830 
 
1.(SBU) Summary. Representatives from the Delegation of the European 
Commission, AusAID, the Asian Development Bank, the Japanese 
Embassy, USAID's Regional Mission in Bangkok and Embassy Jakarta met 
on October 14 to discuss ASEAN donor coordination and communication. 
 The group shared common concerns regarding the ability of the ASEAN 
Secretariat to utilize effectively increased levels of donor 
funding.  The group discussed the need for ASEAN to assume greater 
ownership in setting priorities for donor activities and in the 
financial management of ASEAN activities.  The group also discussed 
sending a collective letter to ASEAN Secretary General Surin 
Pitsuwan requesting a meeting in early 2009 to discuss donor 
concerns.  At a dinner to thank donors for their support of ASEAN on 
October 15, Secretary General Surin remarked that he is open to 
suggestions from donors on how to maximize the benefit of donor 
assistance.  Mexican Ambassador to Indonesia, Melba Pria, met with 
Embassy to discuss benefits of becoming an official ASEAN Dialogue 
Partner.  End Summary. 
 
Donors Urge Greater Ownership by ASEAN 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Representatives from the Delegation of the European 
Commission (EC), AusAID, the Asian Development Bank, the Japanese 
Embassy, USAID's Regional Mission in Bangkok and Embassy Jakarta met 
on October 14 to discuss ASEAN donor coordination and communication. 
 The group raised concerns that member countries have failed to 
empower the ASEAN Secretariat to make decisions about ASEAN's 
increasing number of goals, activities and donor programs (reftel). 
The group noted that the ASEAN Charter does not provide significant 
new funding streams or staff levels for the ASEAN Secretariat, 
creating skepticism about the ability of the ASEAN Secretariat to 
achieve its policy goals and effectively utilize increased donor 
funding.  All participants expressed a desire for greater budgetary 
transparency on the part of ASEAN.  Donors present at the meeting 
worried that ASEAN's lack of ownership of its own funding structure 
or project priorities will create a long-term dependence on donors. 
 
 
Donors Propose Joint Letter to Secretary General 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
¶3. (SBU) The meeting participants discussed mechanisms by which 
dialogue partners could collectively encourage greater transparency 
and increased prioritization of policy goals by ASEAN.  The EC 
proposed that dialogue partners jointly request a meeting on 
strengthening the ASEAN Secretariat and improving ASEAN's 
transparency with the incoming ASEAN member country Permanent 
Representatives in early 2009.  [Note:  Each of the ten member 
countries will assign a Permanent Representative to the ASEAN 
Secretariat in January 2009, if all ten member countries ratify the 
ASEAN Charter before the ASEAN Summit in December.  End Note.]  The 
meeting participants agreed to work jointly on a draft letter to 
Secretary General Surin outlining our concerns and calling for the 
Permanent Representative meeting to discuss donor issues.  Each 
donor country will circulate the draft among its government agencies 
for clearance.  The donors also agreed to work on a single document 
outlining donor activities and funding levels to improve the flow of 
information on donor programs. 
 
Secretary General Hosts Informal Dinner for Donors 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
¶4. (SBU) Secretary General Surin hosted an informal dinner for donor 
project implementation teams in Jakarta on October 15.  Surin 
stressed the importance of donor communication with the ASEAN 
Secretariat to maximize the impact of donor contributions.  He also 
encouraged implementation teams to share information with other 
donors to avoid redundancy across their programs.  Surin is open to 
 
JAKARTA 00001927  002 OF 002 
 
 
suggestions from donors on how to strengthen the ASEAN Secretariat 
and improve the effectiveness of donor assistance.  Surin asserted 
that ASEAN is on the verge of shifting toward a rules based 
organization, which will improve the organization's ability to 
enforce agreements and implement policy goals.  Surin thanked donors 
for their ongoing efforts to train and support ASEAN Secretariat 
staff.  In his view, a strong ASEAN Secretariat is critical to 
achieving ASEAN integration and to maintaining a unified ASEAN 
Community. 
 
Mexico Expresses Interest in Formal ASEAN Ties 
--------------------------------------------- - 
¶5. (SBU) Mexican Ambassador to Indonesia Melba Pria met with the 
Embassy recently to discuss the US experience as formal ASEAN 
dialogue partner.  Mexico hopes to become an ASEAN dialogue partner 
in the near future, although Ambassador Pria noted that ASEAN has 
been slow to respond to her request for formal discussions.  Mexico 
is seeking closer ties with Southeast Asia in an effort to diversify 
its trade relationship.  External trade with the United States 
currently accounts for over 90 percent of total Mexican trade, 
according to Ambassador Pria. 
 
HUME