VZCZCXYZ0002
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHKG #0320/01 1172005
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 272005Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY KINGSTON
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7555
INFO RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHDG/AMEMBASSY SANTO DOMINGO 6004

UNCLAS KINGSTON 000320 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EEB EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FRANCISCA HELMER 
EEB/EX AWARDS COORDINATOR DEBRA STRUDWICK 
HR/PE ANNUAL AWARDS 
WHA/CAR - VELIA DEPIRRO, WILLARD SMITH, ANDREW CADIEUX 
 
SANTO DOMINGO FOR FCS AND FAS 
 
TREASURY FOR ERIN NEPHEW 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: APER ECON BEXP ETRD AMGT EAIR SOCI IBRD IMF CDB IBD
JM, XL 
SUBJECT: JAMAICA: 2009 HERBERT SALZMAN AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN 
INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE; NOMINATION FOR 
 
REF: (A) STATE 18801 (272154Z FEB 09) 
(B) 08 KINGSTON 883 (091624Z OCT 08) 
 
1.(SBU)  This cable conveys the nomination of Embassy Kingston's 
Economic Officer, FS-03 Nathan C. Carter, for the 2009 Herbert 
Salzman Award for Excellence in International Economic Performance. 
The nominator is Kingston Political-Economic Counselor Lloyd W. 
Moss; Charg d' Affaires James T. Heg endorses the nomination. 
Reftel (B) provides an example of a reporting cable as supporting 
documentation.  Post appreciates Department's consideration of Mr. 
Carter's nomination. 
 
(Begin Text of Nomination) 
-------------------------- 
 
Jamaica's economic and social interaction with, and dependence on, 
the USA is broad and deep.  Over the course of the last year, the 
island nation's economy has weathered the most severe storms since 
the 1930s.  Negative growth; a crushing debt burden; resurgent 
inflation; high unemployment; currency depreciation; contracting 
tourism, mining, shipping, and remittances; inefficient tax 
collection; unsustainable losses by state-owned entities; severe 
hurricane damage to agriculture; and per capita rates of murder and 
oil importation among the world's highest - all have combined to 
raise an ominous specter: unless the USA wants another Haiti on its 
doorstep within a decade, we must help Jamaica meet these formidable 
challenges.  Mr. Nathan Carter is doing so -- in ways as innovative 
as they are impressive. 
 
Last year, The Economist magazine ranked Jamaica among the worst 
places in the world to pay taxes, with byzantine regulations and 
abysmal compliance rates.  To help the Ministry of Finance design 
and implement reforms sought by the newly-elected Government, Nathan 
contacted the U.S. Department of the Treasury to seek assistance 
from the Office of Overseas Technical Assistance (OTA).  On the 
strength of several excellent cables he had drafted on tax reform, 
and using funding he had obtained through USAID, OTA sent a 
six-person assessment team to visit Kingston.  This delegation had 
one week of intensive meetings with the highest levels of the 
Ministry of Finance, in addition to major stakeholders in the 
private sector.  Their assessment is an important tool for 
developing strategies for widening the tax net and increasing 
revenue collection in Jamaica - both crucial to the country's 
future.  Teams from OTA will return for another eight weeks to help 
address issues and implement reforms indentified in the assessment. 
 
To reduce Jamaica's sky-high oil imports, Nathan has assisted the 
Government of Jamaica (GoJ) in efforts to help develop the island's 
potential for renewable energy.  Under the auspices of the Embassy 
Science Fellow program, he prepared an innovative proposal to bring 
a USA-based expert in renewables to assist the Ministry of Energy 
over several months with structuring and implementing its ambitious 
biofuels initiative. Nathan also serves as a member of the GoJ's 
recently established Biofuels Task-Force, and coordinates closely 
regarding Jamaica's participation in the U.S.-Brazil Biofuels 
Partnership, under which the GoJ will receive some $250,000 in 
technical assistance from the OAS. 
 
Nathan's work with the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) on 
projects to foster trade and business development has been of 
critical importance to the GoJ's fiscal prospects, which cannot 
improve until it divests the beleaguered national carrier Air 
Jamaica.  He played a key role in arranging a $820,000 USTDA grant 
to the Ministry of Finance to assist in the privatization of the 
airline, and coordinated the visit of the USTDA Director Larry 
Walther and Country Manager for the Andean and Caribbean Regions 
Jorge Esteban for the signing ceremony.  They wrote in appreciation: 
"We at USTDA are very grateful for the work you do in country and 
for the fine support you provide USTDA on a regular basis.  We look 
forward to continuing our relationship and to great things occurring 
in Jamaica in the future."  Nathan also worked with USTDA and the 
Ministry of Energy to send a three-person team from Jamaica on an 
orientation visit to the USA to study waste-to-energy technology, 
and secured additional funding for a definitional mission from USTDA 
to bring a consultant to Kingston to help the Ministry develop its 
Request-for-Proposal, which the GoJ released in January, 2009.  The 
proposal seeks bidders for two solid waste-to-energy projects on the 
island, and U.S. firms are strong contenders. 
 
In the key area of intellectual property rights (IPR), Nathan 
 
 
single-handedly organized a  training workshop for 50 key members of 
the Jamaican judiciary, law enforcement, IPR office, customs, and 
various private sector entities.  Participants included the Chief 
Justice, Commissioner of Customs, and Commissioner of Police.  This 
was the first time such a comprehensive workshop on IPR enforcement 
had been held in the country's history.  Innovatively, Nathan 
brought in three-time Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt and five 
famous reggae singers to press home the importance of IPR to an 
appreciative audience. 
 
With dogged perseverance, Nathan resolved all remaining outstanding 
issues to enable the successful conclusion of the Open Skies 
Aviation Agreement, which had been in negotiations since 2002.   He 
personally drafted the speech for the Ambassador who signed the 
treaty on October 30, 2008, thus fulfilling a key U.S. policy goal. 
 
Nathan worked diligently to successfully recover $3.5 million in 
arrears owed to the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol by the national 
carrier Air Jamaica.  Currently, he is adroitly employing his 
talents to recover another $1.5 million in arrears that the airline 
owes the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health 
Inspection Service program.  In assisting the U.S. business 
community to support investment and facilitate resolution of 
commercial disputes, Nathan has achieved noteworthy successes.  When 
a USA-based firm with a major contract for a water project with 
Jamaica's National Housing Trust (NHT) was unable to secure payment, 
Nathan's personal intervention with NHT representatives resulted in 
the company's receipt of payment in full.  The firm wrote a letter 
to the Embassy stating "This was our first experience with the 
Embassy and to classify it as successful would be an understatement. 
 We look forward to a long and prosperous relationship with the 
Jamaican government and we are much more confident knowing that you 
are there to help." 
 
Nathan's astute conceptual thinking led him to submit prescient 
front-channel reporting warning of the imminent collapse of several 
major pyramid investment schemes in Jamaica.  He also alerted The 
Jamaican Ministry of Finance to the dangers; in part as a result of 
his efforts, the Government embarked on a carefully-orchestrated 
media campaign to gradually lower public expectations so that, when 
the insolvent entities were unable to return funds to investors, a 
far more serious collapse of confidence in the entire financial 
system was averted. 
 
When Tropical Storm Gustav bore down on Jamaica, Nathan coordinated 
swiftly and effectively with airport authorities and airlines to 
assess the status of air travel in and out of the island.  After the 
passage of the storm, he immediately arranged to inspect devastated 
areas of the country, and produced timely situation reports which 
gave Washington highly accurate assessments of the severity of 
damage to crops, roads, and infrastructure. 
 
Through all of Jamaica's travails of the last year, Nathan's 
polished, sophisticated reporting and analyses of everything from 
macroeconomic and financial market developments to the vital tourism 
and bauxite sectors have won accolades from the Washington 
interagency community.  Speaking recently to the Office of the 
Inspector General, a senior end user described Kingston's economic 
reporting as "terrific - insightful, regular, current, and 
frequent." For its part, the Office of Policy Planning and 
Coordination in the WHA Bureau recently wrote to the Director of 
Caribbean Affairs: "I simply wanted to highlight the great econ 
reporting coming out of Embassy Kingston (attached Kingston 245 - 
CONFIDENTIAL).  We've been following their updates over the last 
year on the IMF program and now the deteriorating economic 
situation.  The reporting is very well written and informative, and 
has provided us...ammunition to argue for increased foreign 
assistance for Jamaica.  Tell them to keep them coming!"  Reftel 
report, Will Financial Crisis Rock Jamaica?, provides a good example 
of Nathan's consistently outstanding work. 
 
Suggested Citation 
------------------------ 
 
"For advancement of key U.S. international economic objectives, 
superior reporting, and furtherance of policy goals while serving as 
Economic Officer of the Embassy of the USA in Kingston, Jamaica, in 
the areas of macroeconomics, the energy and aviation sectors, and 
intellectual property rights." 
 
 
(End Text of Nomination) 
------------------------ 
 
HEG