VZCZCXRO7422
PP RUEHAP RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHFK RUEHGH RUEHHM RUEHJS RUEHKN
RUEHKR RUEHKSO RUEHMJ RUEHNAG RUEHPB RUEHPT
DE RUEHC #1640/01 3631959
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 291954Z DEC 09
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO RUEHAP/AMEMBASSY APIA PRIORITY 1510
RUEHBD/AMEMBASSY BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN PRIORITY 8532
RUEHBK/AMEMBASSY BANGKOK PRIORITY 5361
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 2198
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA PRIORITY 6089
RUEHDT/AMEMBASSY DILI PRIORITY 6139
RUEHHI/AMEMBASSY HANOI PRIORITY 0869
RUEHJA/AMEMBASSY JAKARTA PRIORITY 6340
RUEHKN/AMEMBASSY KOLONIA PRIORITY 2245
RUEHKR/AMEMBASSY KOROR PRIORITY 1778
RUEHKL/AMEMBASSY KUALA LUMPUR PRIORITY 3575
RUEHMJ/AMEMBASSY MAJURO PRIORITY 7012
RUEHML/AMEMBASSY MANILA PRIORITY 3693
RUEHPF/AMEMBASSY PHNOM PENH PRIORITY 0651
RUEHPB/AMEMBASSY PORT MORESBY PRIORITY 2105
RUEHGO/AMEMBASSY RANGOON PRIORITY 9271
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL PRIORITY 2662
RUEHGP/AMEMBASSY SINGAPORE PRIORITY 2398
RUEHSV/AMEMBASSY SUVA PRIORITY 8555
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 1724
RUEHUM/AMEMBASSY ULAANBAATAR PRIORITY 7712
RUEHVN/AMEMBASSY VIENTIANE PRIORITY 5063
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON PRIORITY 0803
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU PRIORITY 4459
RUEHCHI/AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI PRIORITY 1816
RUEHFK/AMCONSUL FUKUOKA PRIORITY 1018
RUEHGZ/AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU PRIORITY 1188
RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY PRIORITY 3924
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG PRIORITY 7867
RUEHBN/AMCONSUL MELBOURNE PRIORITY 7017
RUEHNAG/AMCONSUL NAGOYA PRIORITY 0457
RUEHOK/AMCONSUL OSAKA KOBE PRIORITY 3744
RUEHPT/AMCONSUL PERTH PRIORITY 0824
RUEHKSO/AMCONSUL SAPPORO PRIORITY 0891
RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI PRIORITY 4430
RUEHSH/AMCONSUL SHENYANG PRIORITY 8946
RUEHJS/AMCONSUL SURABAYA PRIORITY 0798
RUEHDN/AMCONSUL SYDNEY PRIORITY 3927
RUEHIN/AIT TAIPEI PRIORITY 5483
INFO RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHMCSUU/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 STATE 131640 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
DISTRIBUTE TO BANGKOK RDMA - JEWILSON 
DISTRIBUTE TO USTR 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID ECON PGOV PHUM PREL XB XC XD XE XU XV ZO ASEAN
AID 
SUBJECT: ASEAN DIRECTORS GENERAL REVIEW PROGRESS ON 
ENHANCED PARTNERSHIP WITH THE UNITED STATES 
 
¶1.  (U) Summary.   Directors General (DGs) from the 10 
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) met with 
EAP/RSP director on December 15 in Manila to review progress 
on implementing the November ASEAN ) U.S. Leaders' Meeting 
Joint Statement and to initiate planning for the next ASEAN 
) U.S. five-year plan of action (POA).  All participants 
noted the number of important outcomes from the Leaders' 
Meeting, such as the U.S. Mission to ASEAN, the ASEAN ) U.S. 
eminent persons group (EPG), future cabinet-level 
interactions, the planned visit of ASEAN trade ministers and 
a business delegation to the United States, and the next 
Leaders' Meeting in 2010, among other items.  For the next 
POA, to cover the period of July 2011 to 2016, the DGs agreed 
to draft a more broadly strategic document in contrast to the 
present POA, which has over 100 discrete areas of 
cooperation.  The December meeting provided a useful 
opportunity to review the expanding U.S. engagement with 
ASEAN, highlight progress that already has been made in the 
past month on implementing the Leaders' Meeting Joint 
Statement, and to start the planning for what will be a busy 
year in the U.S. - ASEAN relationship, with the establishment 
of a new Mission and planning for the next Leaders' Meeting. 
End Summary. 
 
-------------------- 
Joint Statement 
-------------------- 
 
¶2.   (U) The Philippines, the present coordinator for the 
U.S. dialogue partner relationship with ASEAN, hosted in 
Manila on December 15 a meeting between ASEAN DGs and EAP/RSP 
director.  The meeting initially reviewed the implementation 
of the November Leaders' Meeting Joint Statement.  EAP/RSP 
director noted that progress has been made in the past month; 
for instance, the United States has provided a climate change 
specialist to the ASEAN Secretariat, planning for 
environmental projects has started, and a youth exchange 
program supported by Northern Illinois University began in 
November.  In addition, a U.S. Foreign Service officer has 
been assigned to Jakarta beginning in January to establish a 
 
STATE 00131640  002 OF 004 
 
 
¶3.   (U) Areas requiring further implementation included the 
proposed 2010 Leaders' Meeting, establishing the EPG, 
cabinet-level meetings, and a trade delegation to the United 
States.  The ASEAN DGs requested information on the timing of 
President Obama's participation in the next Leaders' Meeting. 
 EAP/RSP director responded that dates have not been set yet. 
 EAP/RSP director outlined a proposed terms of reference 
(TOR) for the EPG, which would include three U.S. 
representatives and one representative from each ASEAN 
country.  The proposed TOR for the EPG would also have former 
cabinet-level officials and corporate leaders of the top 
U.S.-ASEAN companies in the region.  The EPG will review 
progress in the U.S.-ASEAN 32-year relationship and identify 
areas for future cooperation ) serving a dual role of 
raising ASEAN awareness among policy makers and pushing a 
more aggressive agenda for U.S.-ASEAN cooperation.  The EPG 
TOR and the participant list would be finalized by February 
for the second ASEAN Working Group Meeting.  The ASEAN DGs 
also asked for clarification of plans for interactions 
between Energy Secretary Chu and U.S. Trade Representative 
(USTR) Kirk and their counterparts.  Again, the timing for 
those meetings has yet to be established; similarly, the 
travel of trade ministers and ASEAN business representatives 
will have to be coordinated with the appropriate offices and 
the U.S. - ASEAN Business Council (USABC). 
 
¶4.  (U) EAP/RSP director asked for clarification from the 
ASEAN DGs on how the U.S. private sector can support planning 
for pandemic preparedness; whether ASEAN would be receptive 
to U.S. companies assisting in stockpiling vaccines for swine 
and other flu strains.  Similarly in disaster assistance, the 
United States intended to follow-up on implementing a 
regional multi-hazard early warning system and to support 
training on civil-military cooperation in disaster management 
and humanitarian assistance. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) EAP/RSP director also asked for information on 
plans for the ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting Plus (ADMM 
Plus) mechanism, which would provide an opportunity for the 
ASEAN Defense Ministers to meet their counterparts from the 
Dialogue Partner country, such as the United States, China, 
and others.  According to the ASEAN DGs, details were still 
under discussion, but that they anticipated seeking U.S. 
 
STATE 00131640  003 OF 004 
 
SUBJECT: ASEAN DIRECTORS GENERAL REVIEW PROGRESS ON 
ENHANCED PARTNERSHIP WITH THE UNITED STAT 
participation in an ADMM Plus.  EAP/RSP director recommended 
that initially U.S. officials could be included in planning 
discussions for the ADMM Plus at a working- level.  The ASEAN 
officials mentioned that there would be working-level 
meetings on this issue in the beginning of 2010, prior to a 
Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) for the ADMM in May and the 
Ministers Meeting during the ASEAN Regional Forum Ministerial 
(ARF) meetings in July.  In separate conversations, the 
Vietnam DG commented that Vietnam, as the ASEAN chair country 
for 2010, was inclined to include eight of the 10 ASEAN 
dialogue partner countries (United States, China, Russia, 
India, Japan, Republic of Korea (ROK), Australia, New 
Zealand).  The Vietnamese selection criteria included the 
dialogue partners that had signed the Treaty of Amity and 
Cooperation (TAC) and had a record of security cooperation in 
the region.  This would exclude dialogue partners, such as 
the European Union and Canada.  Separately, the Singapore DG 
expressed concerns about having too inclusive a list of 
participants in the ADMM Plus, making it too cumbersome to 
achieve agreement on issues.  He also questioned the merits 
of including Russia and India, which he considered to be less 
constructive partners. 
 
------------------- 
Plan of Action 
------------------- 
 
¶6.  (U) Following discussion of the Joint Statement, the 
meeting participants reviewed the status of the present 
five-year POA, due to end in July 2011.  The participants 
noted the progress made in many areas within the three ASEAN 
communities:  Political and Security, Economic Cooperation, 
and Social and Development Cooperation.  Within the political 
and security area, the engagement has expanded with more 
high-level interactions, plans for a new U.S. Mission to 
ASEAN, and greater efforts in nontraditional security issues 
such as disaster management.  In the economic area, the 
United States has provided support to market integration, 
implementation, and conformance with standards and 
intellectual property.  For social and development support, 
the United States has helped to establish a climate change 
specialist position and a range of environmental projects in 
the region. 
 
¶7.   (U) Given the POA has over a hundred discrete points for 
cooperation, some areas had only limited or no activity, such 
 
STATE 00131640  004 OF 004 
 
SUBJECT: ASEAN DIRECTORS GENERAL REVIEW PROGRESS ON 
ENHANCED PARTNERSHIP WITH THE UNITED STAT 
as in support for development of minerals and agriculture. 
EAP/RSP Director recommended that the next POA should be more 
strategic, focus on areas where there has been successful 
cooperation, and should eliminate areas that saw little 
activity the past four years.  In addition, to ensure full 
commitment from all sides, for each area of cooperation there 
should be an identified ASEAN lead country and a 
participating U.S. agency counterpart.  The participants 
agreed that since there were a number of pressing issues to 
plan in the first half of the next year, such as the next 
Leaders, Meeting and follow-up to the Joint Statement, 
planning for the 2011-2016 POA could be delegated to the more 
working-level officials in the Committee of Permanent 
Representatives.  Moreover, any recommendations could be 
reviewed in the latter part of 2010, with ultimate signing by 
the ministers in July 2011. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Comment:  The December ASEAN DGs meeting provided 
an opportunity to assess the status of the Leaders, Meeting 
Joint Statement and the present POA.  The discussions 
highlighted the significant expansion of U.S. engagement with 
ASEAN and the number of accomplishments in that cooperation. 
The ASEAN DGs recognized that the United States was seeking 
to elevate its interaction with ASEAN and that this was 
consistent with the United States, broader goal of enhancing 
its multilateral engagement in the Asia-Pacific region 
generally.  The dialogue also highlighted that significant 
additional planning would be required to implement the Joint 
Statement, such as to establish the EPG and to schedule 
another Leaders, Meeting in 2010 as promised by President 
Obama. 
CLINTON