US embassy cable - 03AMMAN7226

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 007226 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/03/2013 
TAGS: ECPS, EAID, PGOV, PREL, JO 
SUBJECT: MINISTER OF ICT AND ADMIN DEVELOPMENT PLEASED WITH 
NEW GOVT; SEES CHALLENGES IN NEW PORTFOLIO 
 
REF: 2002 AMMAN 567 
 
Classified By: AMBASSADOR EDWARD W. GNEHM FOR REASONS 1.5 (B) AND (D) 
 
1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Reappointed Minister of Information and 
Communications Technology and Minister of Administrative 
Development Fawwaz Al-Zou,bi on Nov. 2 provided to the 
Ambassador an unusually candid insight into the formation of 
the new Jordanian government and the challenges facing 
administrative reform.  He reviewed ongoing MOICT projects 
including the connection of schools to the internet, the 
construction of a broadband cable connecting Europe and Asia, 
the Framework Agreements recently concluded with Microsoft, 
and the privatization of Jordan,s post office (mobile and 
fixed-line telephony issues will be covered septels). END 
SUMMARY. 
 
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THE NEW GOVERNMENT 
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2. (C) Unbidden, Zou,bi gave the Ambassador his impressions 
of the Aqaba retreat that the new Cabinet had taken with the 
King prior to the announcement of the new government.  Of 
Faisal Al-Fayiz, the new Prime Minister, Zou,bi said that 
"at first we were skeptical that he would be able to carry ( 
off (the restructuring and leading of the new government), 
but he surprised us."  The most positive thing about the new 
government, however, was the feeling that it now was the 
King,s government and that it had the King,s full support 
) which, Zou,bi said, would make him much less likely to 
"take any B.S. from Parliament." 
 
3. (C) Zou,bi was pleased with the overall quality of the 
ministers, though he singled out the Ministers of Public 
Works and Housing and Transport (Raed Abu Saud), Social 
Development (Riyad Abu Karaki), and Municipalities (Amal 
Farhan) as neophytes ) albeit promising neophytes ) who 
will "need a bit of handholding."  In the case of Abu Saud, 
Zou,bi regretted that former Public Works and Housing 
Minister Husni Abu Gheida had not stayed on as the 
combination of the Ministries of Public Works and Housing and 
of Transport would be difficult enough without adding the 
ingredient of a Minister who is new to both.  Abu Karaki also 
would have to adapt - he had freely admitted at Aqaba that he 
knew nothing of his job, and would likely face substantial 
frustration in trying to get things done in the civilian 
world after a career spent in the military.  Zou'bi said that 
he found Farhan impressive, but that she had made clear to 
him her belief that neither she nor her Ministry should use 
computers until such time as she felt that they understood 
them and could use them effectively.  This would be an 
obstacle for Zou,bi, as Municipalities is one of the 
ministries most likely to be targeted by the e-government 
push for which he will have responsibility in his capacity as 
Minister of Administrative Development. 
 
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ADMINISTRATIVE DEVELOPMENT 
-------------------------- 
 
4. (C) Zou,bi admitted to the Ambassador that the scope of 
his task as Minister of Administrative Development was 
staggering to him, especially given the lack of resources. 
The new Ministry at least has a strategy, but it employs only 
15 full-time staff led by an ineffective Secretary-General 
and supplemented by 20 second-rate contract personnel.  With 
these resources, Zou,bi has been given a wide mandate to 
tackle complex and divisive government reform issues 
including capacity-building for e-government and right-sizing 
and shifting GOJ,s employment structure.  Zou,bi claimed, 
however, not to be too bothered by this state of affairs.  He 
could either be given the proper resources to make reforms, 
in which case he would make them, or he could be denied such 
resources, in which case nobody could claim to be 
disappointed by his lack of progress. 
 
5. (C) Zou,bi dropped strong hints, however, that the 
Ministry of Administrative Reform would be something that the 
USG might wish to fund, citing likely UK and World Bank 
involvement.  He also alluded to probable clashes between him 
and Minister of Planning Bassem Awadallah in the coming 
weeks.  Within a month, he will be holding a workshop with 
the Ministry of Planning and other stakeholders to plan out 
the course of the Administrative Reform program.  He said 
that while "everyone wants to see magic happen," the workshop 
participants will have to "find a way to balance the magic of 
Bassem Awadallah with the realism of Fawwaz Al-Zou,bi." 
 
6. (C) On a more positive note, Zou,bi said that at least he 
will have a clear expression of the King,s support for his 
goals as he goes to hammer out details with Awadallah: the 
King has given the new government three main goals over the 
next year: the formulation of a plan to restructure the civil 
service, the production of a strategy of clear "deliverables" 
to be realized over the next five years, and a separation 
between the offices of the Prime Minister and of the Cabinet 
which would guarantee that decisions would in the future be 
made collectively by members of the Cabinet rather than by 
the Prime Minister alone.  The Ministry of Administrative 
Development will play the leading role in the civil service 
reform (though Zou,bi indicated that he does not plan to get 
ahead of consensus on this politically sensitive issue).  The 
Ministry would also play an integral role in developing the 
strategy on "deliverables." 
 
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ICT PROJECTS 
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7. (SBU) Moving with relish to ICT issues, Zou,bi elaborated 
on the ongoing projects that the MOICT is pursuing.  He 
characterized the implementation of e-learning as a process 
in which particular progress is being made, as tenders are 
out for the broadband networks connecting Jordan,s 
universities and by March 2004 all 8 public universities are 
expected to be connected and running on the Internet.  MOICT 
has also finalized a plan to connect 226 other Jordanian 
schools (it had received funding to connect 100 schools, then 
"discovered" that the layout of the 100 selected schools 
would allow 126 others to be connected at minimal extra cost) 
and will tender it soon.  Zou,bi said that the wiring of 
these schools will be used as a model for a wider rollout of 
broadband connectivity to other schools as well as to the 
community Internet "access centers" being erected nationwide 
in rural and poor neighborhoods.  He noted that training 
teachers to use the computers and having appropriate software 
available for them was as important as the basic connectivity. 
 
8. (SBU) The Ambassador asked about the current status of the 
Levant Group's project to build a new Europe-Asia fiberoptic 
link through Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan (reftel).  Zou,bi 
said that he had been in contact with Jim Miller, the 
American creator of this project, and that the Levant Group 
had just signed an MOU with Syria which had seemed likely to 
be the primary stumbling block for the project.  The Lebanese 
Minister of Telecommunications was on board as well, and the 
project finally appears to be gaining some traction. 
 
9. (SBU) Zou'bi updated the Ambassador on two "framework" 
agreements the GOJ recently concluded with Microsoft. 
According to Zou'bi, GOJ and Microsoft had negotiated a 
"Shared-Value Projects" Agreement, under which Microsoft and 
the GOJ would invest in promising Jordanian ICT projects as 
50-50 partners without submitting the projects for tender but 
while remaining under the monitoring authority of a third 
party.  GOJ and Microsoft had also negotiated a separate 
Enterprise Agreement, which provided for GOJ licensing of 
Microsoft software, which had included a condition that 
Zou'bi had pressed hard for: that Microsoft would invest 25% 
of the fees that they received from GOJ's licensing of their 
software in Jordanian ICT companies.  Microsoft now 
apparently claims that the money invested in shared-value 
projects should be counted towards the 25% offset.  Zou'bi 
expected the dispute to resolve itself in his favor soon, as 
Microsoft has as pressing an interest in the success of the 
agreements as the GOJ. 
 
10. (SBU) Zou'bi said that he plans to privatize the 
Jordanian postal service this year.  He had originally 
envisioned the service's privatization as a gradual, partial 
process, but now favors a swift and complete privatization. 
The past year, in which the postal service existed in 
corporate form (albeit 100 percent government-owned), was 
disappointing.  There was no strong improvement service or 
profit. 
 
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COMMENT 
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11. (C) Zou'bi's commentary on the formation of the new 
government echoes those of other ministers with whom the 
Ambassador has met, reflecting a sense of strong royal 
support and cameraderie fostered by the Cabinet's retreat in 
Aqaba.  Even that event retreat, however, does not seem to 
have dampened Zou'bi's distaste at the prospect of 
confronting Minister Awadallah over budget prioritization - a 
refrain that is commonly voiced or alluded to by other 
Embassy contacts within the GOJ.  Embassy will follow up on 
the progress made on the fiber link and the dispute over the 
Microsoft framework agreements. 
GNEHM