R 031028Z FEB 09
FM USMISSION GENEVA
TO AMEMBASSY BANGKOK 
AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 
SECSTATE WASHDC 7947
USMISSION USUN NEW YORK

C O N F I D E N T I A L GENEVA 000093 
 
 
USTR FOR B HIRSH, D SHACKLFORD, STATE FOR IO, EB 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/13/2014 
TAGS: EAID ECON ETRD UNCTAD
SUBJECT: UNCTAD DEPUTY POSITION - SYG BAN TO CONSULT WITH 
NEW ADMINISTRATION 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: IN A JANUARY 12 MEETING WITH AMBASSADOR 
TICHENOR, UNCTAD SECRETARY GENERAL DR. SUPACHAI EXPRESSED HIS 
CONTINUED STRONG SUPPORT FOR HIS ACTING DEPUTY LAKSHMI PURI 
(INDIAN) AND FRUSTRATION THAT SYG BAN KI MOON HAS NOT YET 
APPOINTED HER TO THE POSITION. SUPACHAI SAID SYG BAN WAS 
WAITING TO MAKE THE APPOINTMENT UNTIL AFTER HE HAD SPOKEN 
WITH THE INCOMING U.S. ADMINISTRATION. AMB. TICHENOR STRONGLY 
REITERATED THE DEVELOPED COUNTRIES, POSITION THAT UNCTAD 
NEEDS A DEPUTY FROM A DEVELOPED COUNTRY IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN 
A BALANCED LEADERSHIP STRUCTURE AND FULFILL ITS CONSENSUS 
BUILDING MANDATE. AMB. TICHENOR ALSO EXPRESSED FULL USG 
SUPPORT FOR IO DAS GERRY ANDERSON,S CANDIDACY. WHILE 
SUPACHAI EXPRESSED APPRECIATION FOR DAS ANDERSON'S ENGAGEMENT 
WITH UNCTAD, THE AMBASSADOR'S ENTREATIES FELL ON DEAF EARS. 
DR SUPACHAI RESPONDED THAT PURI HAS BEEN ACTING DEPUTY FOR 
MORE THAN A YEAR AND IS "DOING THE JOB PERFECTLY" SO HAS 
EARNED THE POSITION, AND THAT HE HAD SPOKEN WITH THE G-77 AND 
THEY WOULD NOT ACCEPT AN AMERICAN AS DEPUTY. END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) ON JANUARY 12, AMB. TICHENOR USED HIS FAREWELL 
COURTESY CALL ON UN CONFERENCE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT 
(UNCTAD) SECRETARY GENERAL (SYG) SUPACHAI TO REINFORCE USG 
SUPPORT FOR IO DAS ANDERSON,S CANDIDACY FOR DEPUTY AND TO 
REQUEST AN UPDATE ON THE STATUS OF THE DEPUTY POSITION. 
 
UNCTAD DEPUTY POSITION 
---------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) DR. SUPACHAI SAID THAT HE HAD TALKED WITH SYG BAN IN 
DOHA ABOUT THE UNCTAD DEPUTY POSITION AND THAT BAN SAID HE 
WANTED TO TALK WITH THE NEW U.S. ADMINISTRATION BEFORE MAKING 
A DECISION ON THE APPOINTMENT. SUPACHAI MADE HIS MOST 
FORCEFUL PITCH FOR LAKSHMI PURI TO DATE. HE SAID &LAKSHMI 
HAS BEEN DOING THE WORK PERFECTLY FOR MORE THAN A YEAR AND 
THAT WE CAN,T JUST OVERLOOK HER.8 IF SUPACHAI HAD BEEN 
GIVEN A CLEAN SLATE (E.G. DONE A DEPUTY SEARCH WITHOUT 
LAKSHMI ALREADY IN THE POSITION), HE COULD HAVE FOCUSED ON 
GEOGRAPHIC BALANCE, AND HE OR HIS SUCCESSOR CAN LOOK AT THAT 
BALANCE AGAIN AFTER LAKSHMI HAS COMPLETED HER TERM. 
 
¶4. (SBU) IN RESPONSE TO AMB. TICHENOR,S COMMENT THAT IT 
SOUNDED LIKE &THE DIE IS CAST,8 SUPACHAI SAID THAT HE WAS 
NOT SURE THAT SYG BAN WOULDN,T OVER-RIDE HIM BUT THAT HE 
HOPED BAN WOULD MAKE A DECISION SOON.  IF BAN WENT AGAINST 
HIM, SUPACHAI SAID HE WOULD HAVE TO OPEN ANOTHER LONG PROCESS 
TO FIND A DEPUTY AND THAT THIS WOULD BE VERY COMPLICATED 
SINCE SUPACHAI,S OWN TERM WILL END IN AUGUST (MISSION 
COMMENT: SUPACHAI,S TERM WILL END IN AUGUST 2009 UNLESS HE 
IS ASKED TO EXTEND BY SYG BAN AND THAT EXTENSION IS APPROVED 
BY THE UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY. END COMMENT). THEREFORE, SUPACHAI 
CONCLUDED THE BEST THING WOULD BE TO ACCEPT PURI AS DEPUTY 
FOR A ONE OR TWO YEAR TERM OR WHATEVER PERIOD THEY GIVE HER. 
¶5. (SBU) AMB. TICHENOR EMPHASIZED THE IMPORTANCE OF A 
BALANCED DEVELOPED AND DEVELOPING COUNTRY LEADERSHIP IN 
UNCTAD SEVERAL TIMES, BUT THE ARGUMENT SEEMED TO FALL ON DEAF 
EARS. SUPACHAI SAID THE OVERALL BALANCE WITHIN UNCTAD IS 
TILTED TOWARDS GROUP B, AND THAT G-77 HAD REMINDED HIM THAT 
THE G-77 WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR BRINGING THE DEPUTY POSITION 
BACK TO UNCTAD. SUPACHAI SAID HE LOOKED AT THREE FACTORS WHEN 
CHOOSING HIS DEPUTY: GENDER, MERITS AND GEOGRAPHIC BALANCE. 
&LAKSHMI PURI DOESN,T HAVE ONE OF THE THREE (GEOGRAPHIC 
BALANCE) BUT THE OTHERS DON,T HAVE TWO OF THE THREE.8 
 
¶6. (SBU) REGARDING IO DAS GERRY ANDERSON,S CANDIDACY, 
SUPACHAI SAID HE CONSIDERED ANDERSON A FRIEND AND DESCRIBED 
HIM AS "GOOD, KIND AND CONSTRUCTIVE." SUPACHAI SAID HE 
APPRECIATED ANDERSON'S ENGAGEMENT WITH UNCTAD OVER THE YEARS. 
HE ALSO EXPRESSED GREAT APPRECIATION FOR THE UNITED STATES 
UNPRECEDENTED INTEREST IN UNCTAD BUT SAID THAT THE G-77 WOULD 
NOT ACCEPT AN AMERICAN DEPUTY.  (MISSION COMMENT: UNLIKE THE 
UNCTAD SYG POSITION, THE DEPUTY POSITION DOES NOT REQUIRE 
UNGA CONFIRMATION. SG BAN CAN APPOINT WHOEVER HE CHOOSES AS 
DEPUTY. HOWEVER, IF SUPACHAI SUPPORTED A DEPUTY THAT THE G-77 
REJECTED, THE G-77 COULD RETALIATE BY NOT SUPPORTING 
SUPACHAI,S OWN REAPPOINTMENT AS SECRETARY GENERAL. END 
COMMENT) 
 
LOOKING AHEAD - UNCTAD 
---------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) SUPACHAI SAID UNCTAD'S FOCUS OVER THE NEXT SIX 
MONTHS WILL BE LOOKING AT HOW THE FINANCIAL CRISIS IS 
AFFECTING DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, WHICH ARE EXPERIENCING, AND 
WILL EXPERIENCE, THE CRISIS THROUGH REDUCED TRADE AND 
INVESTMENT WITH DEVELOPED COUNTRIES. HE SAID IT IS CRITICAL 
THAT DEVELOPING COUNTRIES KEEP THEIR MARKETS OPEN FOR 
SOUTH-SOUTH TRADE. HE EXPRESSED CONCERN THAT COUNTRIES MAY 
TRY TO MANIPULATE EXCHANGE RATES TO BECOME MORE COMPETITIVE. 
SUPACHAI SAID HE IS LOOKING AT THE COPENHAGEN CONSENSUS 
(DEVELOPMENT SOLUTIONS ADVOCATED BY ECONOMISTS TO 10 GROBAL 
 
 
CHALLENGES) AS A SOURCE FOR EFFECTIVELY PRIORITIZING USE OF 
OFFICIAL DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE. SUPACHAI IS WORKING WITH THE 
WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION TO HELP ENCOURAGE IMPLEMENTATION OF 
THE FIRST COPENHAGEN CONSENSUS, RECOMMENDATION 
(MICRONUTRIENT SUPPLEMENTS FOR CHILDREN, VITAMIN A TO ZINC). 
 
 
BACKGROUND AND COMMENT 
----------------------- 
 
¶8. (C) BACKGROUND: IN NOVEMBER 2007 THE DIRECTOR OF THE TRADE 
DIVISION AT UNCTAD, LAKSHMI PURI, BECAME THE ACTING DEPUTY 
AND HAS SERVED IN BOTH POSITIONS SINCE THEN.  IN JUNE 2008, 
DR. SUPACHAI ASKED DEVELOPED COUNTRIES TO PUT FORWARD 
CANDIDATES FOR THE UNCTAD DEPUTY POSITION AND SPECIFICALLY 
TOLD THE US AND EU THAT HE INTENDED TO APPOINT A DEVELOPED 
COUNTRY CANDIDATE AS DEPUTY. IN SEPTEMBER 2008, DR. 
SUPACHAI,S SENIOR ADVISOR KOBSAK INFORMED MISSION OFFICERS 
THAT DAS ANDERSON WAS THE BEST OF THE FIVE GROUP B AND EU 
CANDIDATES, BUT THAT UNCTAD'S MEMBERSHIP WAS NOT READY FOR AN 
AMERICAN DEPUTY; INSTEAD SUPACHAI HAD CHOSEN THE ACTING 
DEPUTY LAKSHMI PURI (INDIAN) FOR THE POST. THE US INFORMED 
GROUP B OF THIS DECISION, WHICH GENERATED LETTERS OF PROTEST 
FROM THE EU, GROUP B AND JUSCANZ THAT UNCTAD SHOULD HAVE A 
DEPUTY FROM A DEVELOPED COUNTRY IN ORDER TO: MAINTAIN A 
BALANCED LEADERSHIP STRUCTURE, FULFIL UNCTAD,S CONSENSUS 
BUILDING MANDATE, AND ATTRACT VOLUNTARY FUNDING. THE AFRICA 
GROUP AND LATIN AMERICA GROUP ALSO INFORMED SUPACHAI THAT 
THEY HAD NOT BEEN CONSULTED REGARDING THE G-77 EXPRESSION OF 
SUPPORT FOR PURI AND THUS THERE WAS NO CONSENSUS G-77 
POSITION ON LAKSHMI PURI,S CANDIDACY FOR DEPUTY. 
 
¶9. (C) IN SUBSEQUENT MEETINGS ON THIS ISSUE, DR. SUPACHAI 
CHANGED HIS RATIONALE FOR CHOOSING PURI FROM HER BEING THE 
DEFAULT, SINCE AN AMERICAN WAS UNACCEPTABLE TO G-77, TO HER 
BEING THE BEST CANDIDATE, TO IN THE JANUARY 12 MEETING, HER 
DOING HER JOB PERFECTLY. END BACKGROUND. 
 
¶10. (C) COMMENT: DR. SUPACHAI IS RUMORED TO BE INTERESTED IN 
A SECOND TERM AS SECRETARY GENERAL OF UNCTAD BUT TO GET THAT 
HE NEEDS SUPPORT FROM NOT ONLY SYG BAN BUT ALSO THE GENERAL 
ASSEMBLY. LAKSHMI PURI'S HUSBAND, HARDEEP SINGH PURI, IS A 
SECRETARY IN THE INDIAN MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS AND PURI 
HAS USED THAT CONNECTION TO PROACTIVELY PROMOTE HER 
NOMINATION AND THREATEN ANY DELEGATE WHO HAS SPOKEN AGAINST 
HER NOMINATION.  THE INDIAN PRIME MINISTER HAS EXPRESSED 
SUPPORT FOR PURI TO SYG BAN AND SYG SUPACHAI. THE FINAL 
DECISION ON THE POSITION RESTS WITH SG BAN.  HOWEVER, BASED 
ON SUPACHAI'S COMMENTS, EVEN WERE BAN NOT TO BACK PURI THAT 
WOULD NOT MEAN DAS ANDERSON'S APPOINTMENT BUT RATHER A 
REOPENING OF THE SEARCH PROCESS, (WHICH WOULD EFFECTIVELY 
LEAVE PURI IN THE DEPUTY POSITION THROUGH THE END OF 
SUPACHAI'S TERM THIS AUGUST). END COMMENT. 
 
STORELLA