VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTU #0757/01 2860651
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 130651Z OCT 09
FM AMEMBASSY TUNIS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6873
INFO RUCNMGH/MAGHREB COLLECTIVE
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN 1411
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS TUNIS 000757 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR NEA/MAG (HAYES) AND OES (SENSENEY AND LAWRENCE) 
AMMAN FOR ESTH HUB (BHALLA) 
COMMERCE FOR CLDP (TEJTEL AND MCMANUS) 
NSC STAFF FOR SENIOR DIRECTOR RAMAMURTHY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL SENV TS
SUBJECT: ESTH ENGAGEMENT IN TUNISIA - OPPORTUNITIES AND 
CHALLENGES 
 
REF: A. TUNIS 507 
     ¶B. TUNIS 492 
     ¶C. STATE 71325 
 
Sensitive but Unclassified.  Please protect accordingly. 
 
------- 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) We believe the positive Tunisian rhetorical response 
to President Obama's June 4 Cairo speech could provide an 
opening to activate the 2004 Science and Technology Agreement 
and partner with Tunisia on strategic efforts such as 
technology development, science diplomacy, new and renewable 
energy sources, and the creation of green jobs.  As a small 
country with limited natural resources, Tunisia has staked 
its future on the development of human capital, increasingly 
focusing on science and technology (S&T)-driven economic 
sectors.  Tunisia is also a leader in the Maghreb region on 
environmental and health issues.  Yet despite its stated 
strong interest in ESTH issues, the Government of Tunisia 
(GOT) has shied away from meaningful engagement by declining 
repeated USG offers for meetings, training sessions, and 
other collaborative efforts.  The Embassy's action plan for 
greater bilateral engagement on Environment, Science, 
Technology, and Health (ESTH) is provided in paragraph 13. 
End summary. 
 
--------------------------- 
Mixed Signals on Engagement 
--------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) ESTH issues, particularly S&T, are central to the 
Tunisian government's strategic development plans.  Lacking 
extensive natural resources and facing rising unemployment 
among youth, Tunisia wants to build a knowledge-based economy 
and create S&T-based jobs through education, 
entrepreneurship, and investment.  The GOT plans to equip 
6,500 primary schools with digital learning tools over the 
next five years and has begun expanding university-level S&T 
programs.  Its foreign investment strategy favors 
high-technology fields such as aerospace, medical tourism, 
and pharmaceuticals, and Tunisia aims to be a model for the 
rest of Africa on sustainable agriculture and efficient water 
usage. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Yet despite the GOT's active approach toward ESTH 
issues, and despite its repeated expressions of interest in 
engaging with the United States, the GOT's actions have not 
matched its words.  With a few exceptions (see paragraph 12) 
the GOT has declined to engage with us in a serious and 
meaningful way on ESTH partnerships. 
 
¶4. (SBU) The GOT approach generally favors a direct request 
for funds rather than a consultative process leading to 
funded programs.  For example, earlier this year the Tunisian 
Ambassador in Washington presented a list of ESF funding 
requests to the Department, bypassing the normal consultative 
process at post.  We have been told by African Development 
Bank contacts that despite the Bank's long and fruitful 
relationship with Tunisia (one of its best and most prolific 
borrowers), the GOT severely limits the level of Bank input 
into program development, preferring to present 
fully-developed proposals for Bank funding. 
 
¶5. (SBU) The GOT also regularly declines opportunities for 
meetings, conferences, and trainings intended to build 
USG-GOT partnerships at the working level.  This year alone, 
the GOT has turned down invitations for U.S.-based training 
programs on water management and treatment, intellectual 
property rights, agricultural science, and civil nuclear 
power.  Attempts at engagement over the last few years 
through visits by USG agencies, including USAID and USTDA, 
were cancelled due to lack of GOT interest. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Currently, ESTH engagement is a mixed picture.  In 
July, the MFA, citing "scheduling constraints," declined our 
request for visiting ESTH hub officer Manu Bhalla to meet 
with GOT interlocutors to discuss potential collaborations. 
More troubling was the GOT order to the organizers of the 
July 24-28 International Science Expo, which received USG 
support, to remove the State Department logo from its 
 
promotional materials.  The posters and banners were 
re-printed without our logo, but retained the logos for 
UNESCO, the French Embassy-based "Institut Francais de 
Cooperation," and several other organizations, both foreign 
and Tunisian.  Interestingly, following the visit, an MFA 
contact expressed disappointment that he did not meet with 
Bhalla and asked if he would visit again.  Also, the MFA has 
shown interest in two recent invitations for ESTH-related 
training workshops. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
What about the Bilateral S&T Agreement? 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Tunisia signed an agreement with the United States 
on Science and Technology on June 22, 2004, but has not 
ratified it.  On a practical level, our efforts to engage 
with Tunisia on ESTH issues depend on the GOT ratifying this 
agreement. In addition to the positive signal that 
ratification would send, there are important provisions in 
the agreement on intellectual property and non-taxation of 
U.S. assistance.  The agreement is also tied to a USG 
interagency process that would help to identify useful 
projects and appropriate funding. 
 
¶8. (SBU) In an October 7 meeting, an official from the 
Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research, and 
Technology, which is the "Executive Agent" of the agreement, 
said the Ministry was engaged in an interagency process to 
update/modify the agreement and forward it to the MFA for 
ratification.  The official also volunteered that in the 
Ministry's view, progress on the S&T Agreement was fully in 
line with President Obama's June 4 speech in Cairo. 
 
------------------------------------ 
Cairo Speech Could Create an Opening 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶9. (SBU) President Obama's June 4 speech in Cairo was 
well-received in Tunisia (ref A), particularly in its promise 
to step up engagement on science, technology, and economic 
development.  GOT contacts have inquired about the Cairo 
speech, seeking details on funding and programs that may 
follow.  In particular, Tunisians have expressed interest in 
efforts to support technological development, commercialize 
technology, develop new sources of energy, and expand 
scientific research. 
 
¶10. (SBU) Despite the increasing GOT trend to circumscribe 
the activities of diplomatic missions and to avoid 
substantive engagement, the Cairo speech presents an 
opportunity to partner with the GOT on issues it perceives as 
non-controversial and strategically important (while taking 
care not to raise expectations of new U.S. funding). 
 
¶11. (SBU) The clean energy aspect of the Cairo speech may 
represent an area of particular interest to Tunisia.  In 
addition to the GOT's own plans to generate 13% of its 
electricity from renewable sources over the next several 
years, Tunisia is positioned to export clean energy to Europe 
to meet the EU target of increasing the share of renewables 
in energy use to 20% by 2020.  The recent agreement between 
electric authorities in Tunisia and Italy, which will include 
a 1,000 megawatt undersea electricity cable, will facilitate 
Tunisian energy exports to Europe.  Tunisia also may be 
interested in participating in the multinational DESERTEC 
project aimed at generating solar power in the Sahara to 
provide 15% of Europe's electricity by 2050. 
 
---------------------------------- 
Current ESTH Engagement in Tunisia 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶12. (U) There are four USG programs in Tunisia addressing 
ESTH issues, two currently operating and two in various 
stages of development: 
 
a. NIH/NIAID Partnership on Leishmaniasis:  The National 
Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a part 
of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), provides support 
to the Institut Pasteur de Tunis (IPT), one of four 
NIH/NIAID-supported Tropical Medicine Research Centers.  In 
June, IPT and NIH/NIAID hosted a conference in Tunis with the 
 
goal of sparking collaborative research projects on 
Leishmaniasis, a disfiguring and sometimes deadly parasitic 
disease found in some 88 tropical and sub-tropical countries. 
 
b. MERC and IPT:  The IPT is also benefiting from a new grant 
from the Middle East Regional Cooperation (MERC) program, 
which promotes scientific cooperation between Arab and 
Israeli researchers, students, and communities.  Working with 
Israeli and Palestinian researchers in an $850,000 project, 
the IPT will carry out a study of the deadly visceral form of 
Leishmaniasis. 
 
c. A new university partnership funded with $300,000 in 
FY2008 ESF will connect researchers from Virginia Tech and 
the National Engineering School of Sfax, Tunisia, for a 
multi-year project to derive biomass fuel from olive oil 
byproducts.  This program will involve significant technology 
transfer and help create a local skill base for renewable 
energy production in Tunisia. 
 
d. A new science and technology program ($200,000 in FY2008 
ESF) implemented by the Commercial Law Development Program 
(CLDP) at the Department of Commerce will work with Tunisia's 
Agency for Research and Innovation to spark the development 
of commercially viable technologies, especially among 
entrepreneurs and small- and medium-sized enterprises.  This 
program will build on CLDP's strong track record of 
engagement in Tunisia. 
 
-------------------------------- 
Improving Future ESTH Engagement 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶13. (SBU) There are numerous USG agencies currently carrying 
out ESTH programs in the NEA region.  Given the Tunisian 
desire to be a leader in science, technology, and the 
development of human capital, there is room for growth in 
interagency ESTH programming in Tunisia.  To explore the 
GOT's willingness to improve ESTH cooperation, the Embassy 
plans to carry out the following efforts in the coming months: 
 
- Continue our follow-up engagement on the themes of the 
Cairo speech, which emphasized technology development and 
commercialization, science diplomacy, new and renewable 
energy sources, and the creation of green jobs.  While 
recognizing that funds have not been identified for these 
initiatives, the Cairo speech provides a "hook" to spark GOT 
interest in U.S. programs and opportunities. 
 
- Working with Department offices, encourage the GOT to 
ratify the 2004 S&T agreement between the United States and 
Tunisia.  Beyond serving as a demonstration of the GOT's 
willingness to engage, it will set the foundation for future 
collaborations. 
 
- Following the finalization of the S&T Agreement, pulse GOT 
interest in establishing a bilateral interagency S&T Joint 
Committee Meeting (JCM) process.  JCM activities could take 
the form of meetings in Tunis or, funds permitting, sending a 
Tunisian delegation to Washington. 
 
- Engage with Tunisia through international visitor programs, 
scence speakers, and S&T exchanges such as the Embasy 
Science Fellow program.  Through these programs we can engage 
directly with non-governmental orgnizations working in ESTH 
fields. 
 
- Participate in the "Year of Arab-American Science 
Partnership" proposed by the ESTH Hub in Amman to create 
opportunities for both public diplomacy and practical 
economic impact. 
 
- Engage with Tunisian youth through partnerships with 
organizations such as the Young Scientists Association. 
 
¶14. (SBU) Expanding our ESTH portfolio will require steady 
and persistent efforts to improve USG-Tunisian working-level 
engagement on cooperation programs.  Much will depend on GOT 
willingness and interest in carrying out joint activities. 
If that interest materializes, we will seek to leverage 
relatively low-cost activities such as short-term technical 
assistance, training workshops, and visitor programs into 
partnerships that advance both U.S. and Tunisian strategic 
 
goals. 
 
GRAY