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DE RUEHRH #0103/01 0241156
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
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FM AMEMBASSY RIYADH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2358
INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE
RUEHPH/CDC ATLANTA GA
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON DC
RHEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 RIYADH 000103 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR S/P BEHRMAN 
STATE FOR NEA/ARP, OES 
WHITE HOUSE FOR OSTP 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON PREL KIPR EINV TSPL SENV SOCI SA
SUBJECT: SCENESETTER FOR THE VISIT OF PRESIDENTIAL SCIENCE 
ENVOY ELIAS ZERHOUNI TO SAUDI ARABIA 
 
REF: 2009 STATE 71325 
 
¶1. (SBU) Mission Saudi Arabia enthusiastically welcomes your 
visit, planned for February 15-20, to Riyadh and Jeddah.  You 
will arrive just after several prominent official visits, 
including Deputy Treasury Secretary Wolin and Under Secretary 
of State for Economic Affairs Hormats, and just before the 
visit of Energy Secretary Chu.  These visits highlight the 
importance both countries attach to deepening and broadening 
our bilateral relationship.  The U.S. Mission in Saudi Arabia 
is dedicated to tearing down the figurative walls that both 
sides erected after 9/11 to build a new enduring strategic 
relationship.  Your visit will help advance that agenda, 
which is intimately linked to the President's Cairo speech, 
by providing a clear example of our shared interests in 
expanding cooperation in areas of importance for the Saudis. 
 
Science as the Key to Development: 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶2. (SBU) As you are aware through your participation in the 
inauguration of the King Abudullah University for Science and 
Technology (KAUST) last September, the King has sketched out 
an ambitious plan to transform Saudi Arabia's economy away 
from excessive reliance on hydrocarbons and towards a 
knowledge based economy that can provide sustainable 
development for the long-term.  This requires nothing short 
of a revolution in the education system and significant 
changes in most aspects of Saudi society.  Senior Saudi 
officials have been candid in stressing the importance they 
place on strong ties with the United States.  They are 
looking to attract U.S. firms to invest in the Kingdom 
because our firms tend to invest for the long-term, bring the 
best technology, and commit to training local staff.  Saudi 
officials are also very keen to expand educational ties to 
the U.S., including expanding a scholarship program that has 
already sent thousands of Saudi students to U.S. colleges and 
universities, many in scientific and technical fields.  Your 
interlocutors will be interested in your assessment of areas 
for further partnership and growth in our relations. 
 
S&T Umbrella Agreement: 
- - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶3. (SBU) Science and technology has been one of the most 
productive areas in our bilateral relationship in the last 
several years.  In December 2008, we signed an umbrella 
Science and Technology Agreement that outlined seven areas of 
interest.  In May 2009, the two sides held a follow up 
meeting in Riyadh, and the first working group, on Space, met 
in Washington December 3-4.  The Space Working Group 
identified several areas of cooperation between the King 
Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST, which is 
effectively the Saudi Science Ministry) and USG agencies, 
including USGS, NOAA, NASA, and DOE.  Shortly after this 
meeting, NASA and KACST signed an agreement to include KACST 
as a participant in the Lunar Institute.  Other working 
groups will soon meet, including Innovation and Energy. 
Saudi officials are eager to explore areas for cooperation in 
developing renewable energy, particularly solar and biomass, 
and for developing projects to capture and store carbon 
(CCS).  Secretary Chu is likely to explore the potential for 
cooperation between Saudi institutions and DOE labs during 
his visit planned for February. 
 
Implementing Technology Advances: 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶4. (SBU) Saudi officials are seized with a sense of urgency 
about the need to develop the knowledge economy to meet the 
country's significant development needs.  As a result, they 
tend to focus on practical results and look for projects that 
will lead to real world applications.  For example, a 
prominent feature of KAUST's inauguration was its technology 
incubator, which has already attracted investments, including 
from Dow Chemical.  KACST has also set up several Technology 
Implementation Centers (TICs) with companies, including a 
nanotechnology water desalination project and a 
nanotechnology research center with IBM.  KACST plans to 
 
RIYADH 00000103  002 OF 003 
 
 
create 15 more TICs over the next three years.  This 
complements the Saudi Government's national development 
strategy, which aims to create clusters of new industries 
focused on Saudi Arabia's competitive advantages.  Saudi 
Arabia has targeted the development of information 
technologies, as well as health sciences, among other fields. 
 
Health: 
- - - - 
 
¶5. (SBU) We have enjoyed significant cooperation on health 
issues.  CDC helped Saudi Arabia audit its preparations to 
protect the health of Hajj pilgrims.  This led to a series of 
recommendations and a follow up visit by a seven-member CDC 
team to help ensure this year's Hajj was successful and did 
not contribute significantly to the H1N1 pandemic.  The team 
also tested a pilot screening program that will significantly 
expand the speed and accuracy of information available to 
public health officials in terms of tracking the spread of 
infectious diseases.  As this program rolls out, it will 
become a model for deployment in other countries.  The 
Minister of Health is so pleased with the cooperation with 
CDC that he has asked to sign an MOU with HHS by May, which 
will expand cooperation into applied research (working with 
NIH) and provide assistance on Saudi Arabia's overhaul of its 
health care system.  The U.S. FDA has been very helpful in 
standing up the Saudi FDA, which has sought to model itself 
on its U.S. counterpart.  FDA teams have helped their Saudi 
counterparts adopt new measures for tracking and registering 
medical equipment.  Saudi Arabia is also a strong partner in 
combating polio, working through the Organization of the 
Islamic Conference (OIC), the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), 
and the Islamic Development Bank.  Saudi institutions have a 
number of partnerships with U.S. companies and universities 
in the health sector, including with the Cleveland Clinic, 
Johns Hopkins, and Harvard, as well as an active breast 
cancer initiative between King Fahad Medical City and MD 
Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.  Saudi institutions are 
particularly interested in expanding cooperation in oncology 
and on public health issues.  Your interlocutors will be 
particularly interested in any recommendations you might have 
for increasing training opportunities, particularly through 
scholarships, and expanding research collaboration. 
 
IPR: 
- - - 
 
¶6. (SBU) The Saudi Government understands that an important 
part of creating a knowledge economy will be putting in place 
a strong regime to protect intellectual property rights 
(IPR).  Saudi Arabia has made significant progress over the 
last several years in improving IPR protection, including 
upgrading its system to evaluate patent applications.  U.S. 
agencies, including the Patent and Trademark Office, are 
offering training for Saudi officials to support further 
development, and the Embassy is working with companies to 
explore the potential for expanding the pharmaceutical 
industrial base in Saudi Arabia.  Reinforcing the importance 
of strong patent protection for the development of Saudi 
knowledge sectors would help advance our agenda. 
 
Public Support for Science: 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶7. (SBU) The development of Science, Technology, and Health 
enjoys broad public support, as doctors and scientists are 
well respected within this society, and Saudis generally 
believe that developing a strong scientific base is important 
to the country's long-term development.  That said, the level 
of general public discourse on science and technology is not 
particularly high.  There is a growing awareness of the 
importance of a few environmental issues (mainly waste 
disposal and conservation), although cooperation on issues 
like climate change remains generally low.  Saudi Arabia has 
been involved in climate change negotiations from the 
beginning, although it has not played as positive a role in 
the discussions as we would like.  You may wish to consider 
ways to increase awareness of environmental issues in your 
public remarks. 
 
RIYADH 00000103  003 OF 003 
 
 
 
Potential Meetings and Press Outreach: 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶8. (SBU) We strongly recommend that you consider meetings in 
both Jeddah and Riyadh.  In Jeddah, besides meetings at 
KAUST, we would recommend you meet with King Abdul Aziz 
University to address their science colleges and to meet with 
published Saudi health expert Dr. Khalid Al-Madani; Shoura 
Council member and former director of the Jeddah S&T Center 
Mr. Mazen Balilah; and the Jeddah Science Innovation Club. 
 
¶9. (SBU) In Riyadh, we would recommend you meet with KACST, 
which is the engine of Saudi science and technology policy. 
We would also recommend you meet with officials at the 
Ministry of Health to discuss expanding health research and 
training; the Saudi General Investment Authority (SAGIA) to 
discuss Saudi investment priorities in the S&T sector; the 
Presidency for Meteorology and the Environment (the Saudi 
EPA) to explore environmental cooperation; the Ministry of 
Petroleum to expand collaboration on clean energy technology 
research, development, and deployment; King Saud University 
to meet the next generation of Saudi scientists; and the 
Saudi FDA to learn about our robust food and drug safety 
collaboration. 
 
¶10. (SBU) In addition to press coverage at public events 
potentially at KAUST or at Saudi universities, we can work 
with PAS to coordinate a webchat that may target a younger 
audience interested in science education.  Further, we can 
use the Embassy Facebook page to reach both male and female 
students and young people interested in science.  You may 
also wish to consider co-authoring an editorial with a 
high-level Saudi official, such as Minister of Health 
Abdullah Al-Rabeeah.  An opinion-editorial targets a 
different audience -- the readership for editorials tends to 
skew towards the educated elite who have a strong interest in 
science.  We believe a possible theme could be the May 2010 
proposal to sign a HHS MOU to cooperate on research and 
health sector reform with the Ministry of Health. 
SMITH