VZCZCXRO4050
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHJA #2682 2640901
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 210901Z SEP 07
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6393
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 0837
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 1229
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 4328
UNCLAS JAKARTA 002682
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR EAP/MTS AND EB/ESC/IEC
DEPT PASS OPIC, EXIM, TDA
DOE FOR CUTLER/PI-32 AND GILLESPIE/PI-32
COMMERCE FOR 4430/BERLINGUETTE
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EPET ENRG EINV PREL ID
SUBJECT: Bilateral Energy Dialogue Date and Venue Change
REF: Jakarta 1657 (Energy Dialogue Back On Track)
1. (SBU) Director General of Oil and Gas Luluk Sumiarso told us on
September 20 that he liked the USG proposed agenda for the bilateral
Energy Policy Dialogue (EPD). He expressed particular appreciation
for the mix of Government-to-Government and Government-to-Business
modules. Luluk stressed that he wants his tenure as DG to be noted
for his inclusiveness of business and transparency in his dealings
with them.
2. (SBU) The GOI is not willing, however, to proceed with the 22-25
October time frame, originally proposed by DOE PDAS Kathrine
Fredriksen during her June visit to Jakarta. Luluk also stressed
that the GOI wishes to host the EPD in Denpasar, rather than
Jakarta. We reiterated our desire to have the largest, most
comprehensive U.S. delegation possible and said that holding the EPD
in Jakarta would promote that goal. We sense their fixation on the
Bali venue is due to an edict from the highest levels of government
to help the tourism sector in Bali which has been taken a deep
plunge in the last few years.
3. (SBU) In any event, Luluk said the Ministry of Energy and Mineral
Resources must use a competitive tender process for the contract to
manage the conference. For that reason, he said he doubted the GOI
would be ready to host the EPD by 22 October. They have
counter-proposed the dates of 14-16 November. Luluk had also
proposed 29 and 30 November, but we expressed our concern about the
proximity to the dates for the UN COP-13 environment conference. We
fear that the EPD will get lost in the shuffle of their preparations
to receive 10,000 visitors for the UN meeting the following week.
4. (SBU) Luluk said he appreciated the suggestion from DOE's Tom
Cutler regarding an Aceh event or theme for the EPD. He said he
would put this in front of the Minister for his decision and get
back to us. With the departure of Edy Hermantoro to a new job, our
new working level contact for the EPD is Nita Wartini, Deputy
Director of Oil and Gas Cooperation, who struck us as very worthy
successor to Edy.
HUME