VZCZCXRO8390
PP RUEHDE RUEHDH RUEHDIR
DE RUEHDO #0692/01 3291155
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 251155Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY DOHA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9537
RHMFISS/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DOHA 000692 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
FROM AMBASSADOR LEBARON FOR DEPUTY SECRETARY PONEMAN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL ENRG EINV TRGY QA
SUBJECT: SCENESETTER FOR DEPUTY ENERGY SECRETARY PONEMAN'S 
DECEMBER 10 VISIT TO QATAR 
 
REF: DOHA 413 
 
¶1. (SBU) Embassy Doha welcomes your visit to Qatar.  We have 
confirmed a meeting for you with Minister of Energy/Deputy 
Prime Minister Abdullah bin Hamad Al-Attiyah and have 
requested meetings with Managing Director of the Qatar 
Investment Authority (QIA) Dr. Hussein Abdullah and Shaykh 
Abdul Rahman of the Amiri Diwan.  We have requested, but not 
confirmed, a visit to the Qatar Foundation's Science and 
Technology Park, and U.S. energy companies in Doha have 
expressed interest in meeting with you over breakfast.  It is 
possible that you will meet the Crown Prince, but that is 
still far from certain at this time.  We strongly encourage 
you to participate in targeted media events and will be 
communicating our ideas on that separately. 
 
¶2. (SBU) This cable discusses the three primary subject areas 
of your visit, taking into account Embassy Doha's interagency 
goals and DoE's expressed goals for the trip. We begin with 
science & technology, followed by Critical Energy 
Infrastructure and end with investment flows. Our recommended 
areas for discussion with the Qataris are as follows: 
 
-- USG interest in technical cooperation on clean and 
renewable energy sources. 
 
-- Specifically, we encourage you to mention, favorably, the 
Qatar National Food Security Program's desire to develop new 
technologies aimed at generating electricity from solar power 
on an industrial scale in order to fuel large scale 
desalinization for agricultural irrigation.  These 
technologies, in turn, could be shared with developing 
countries around the globe. 
 
-- You should express our willingness to assist Qatar in 
fulfilling its CEIP requirements at the appropriate time and 
give concrete examples of the kind of assistance DOE could 
provide if called upon. 
 
--  You should tell your Qatari interlocutors that the U.S. 
government welcomes Qatari investment and that the 
Administration will work cooperatively to make such 
investment as painless as possible. 
 
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 
---------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) One of the most promising areas for cooperation with 
Qatar among the themes addressed in the President's June 
Cairo speech is partnership in science and technology 
(reftel). The Qatar Science and Technology Park (QSTP), part 
of Qatar Foundation, has 22 high-profile tenants, including 
major U.S. firms such as ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips, GE and 
Microsoft. QSTP's goal is to foster industry-university 
collaboration at Qatar's Education City and it is focused on 
promoting research, commercialization, and 
technology/knowledge-transfer to Qatar from these firms in 
four areas: energy, environment, health care, and 
information/communication technology.  (More information is 
available at: www.qstp.org.qa) 
 
¶4. (SBU) QSTP prides itself on creating synergies and 
building cooperation across firms, like GE and ExxonMobil, 
that might not ordinarily work together on joint projects. 
Research into solar and other alternative energies is a 
primary focus, since Qatar's leadership recognizes that 
hydrocarbons are an exhaustible resource. 
 
¶5. (SBU) One area that is especially ripe for cooperation is 
the use of solar energy to promote food security.  QSTP and 
the Ministry of Energy, which heads a Qatari interagency 
renewable energy committee probably will play major roles in 
Qatar's food security efforts.  The Government of Qatar is 
increasingly keen to promote food security in Qatar and the 
broader Middle East region. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Fahad Al-Attiyah, who heads Qatar's National Food 
Security Program under a mandate from the Crown Prince, has 
support from senior levels of the Qatari leadership for his 
work.  Promoting his efforts complements USG goals across the 
region and beyond, and our cooperation with Qatar in this 
area could pay rich dividends.  Fahad Al-Attiyah has invited 
Secretary Clinton to participate in a major global conference 
in March on Food Security for the Arab World. 
 
CRITICAL ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE 
------------------------------ 
 
 
DOHA 00000692  002 OF 002 
 
 
¶7. (SBU) The Crown Prince has overall responsibility for 
Qatar's Critical Infrastructure Protection needs. For some 
time, the USG has sought to undertake assessments in this 
area.  Our offers to send technical teams -- including one 
made by Secretary Bodman to Minister Al-Attiyah in 2008 -- 
have been spurned.  Qatar Petroleum (QP) officials, who 
report to Minister Al-Attiyah and have responsibility for 
these issues, have confirmed in recent weeks that Qatar sees 
no role for us or other governments in assessing Qatar's CEIP 
needs.  Qatar is paying private consultants for their 
services.  Once the assessments are finished and Qatar's 
needs prioritized, QP looks forward to drawing on U.S. and 
other expertise to address identified needs. 
 
INVESTMENT FLOWS 
---------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) In approaching your meetings with QP and QIA, you 
should be aware that Qatar's investment in the Golden Pass 
regasification facility near the Texas-Louisiana border 
produced a bad regulatory and bureaucratic experience, in 
Qatar's view.  The regulatory hurdles that had to be 
surmounted led the Qataris to conclude that such investments 
should be avoided in the future.  Besides having a dislike 
for government bureaucracy and regulation, your likely 
interlocutor at QIA, Dr. Hussein Abdullah, may impress upon 
you Qatar's fear that the pursuit of high-profile investments 
in the U.S. could lead to a negative public backlash (think 
Dubai Ports World).  We note that QIA has developed a 2010 
investment strategy that will focus on three areas: the 
acquisition of businesses that have cash flow problems but 
are otherwise healthy and well run; investment in a broad 
range of commodities; and the purchase of commercial real 
estate in prime locations, primarily in the U.S. and Europe. 
 
LeBaron