US embassy cable - 04DUBLIN1606

UNCLAS DUBLIN 001606 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, ETRD, EINV, PHUM 
SUBJECT: IRELAND EXPANDS LINKS THROUGH PM AHERN'S ASIA TRIP 
 
REF: HANOI 2795 
 
1.  (SBU) Prime Minister (Taoiseach) Bertie Ahern's October 
7-16 visit to Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, and Bahrain was 
an opportunity to pursue new diplomatic, commercial, and 
humanitarian links for Ireland in the region, according to 
Irish Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) officials who spoke 
with emboff.  The officials said that Ireland's status as a 
small, open economy, dependent on trade and foreign direct 
investment, mandated this form of international outreach.  On 
the diplomatic front, Ahern announced on the margins of the 
October 8-9 Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Hanoi that Ireland 
would open an embassy in Vietnam and include the country in 
its overseas development program.  In Ho Chi Minh City, Ahern 
opened the Christina Noble Center, an Irish charity for 
disadvantaged children.  In Malaysia, Singapore, and Bahrain, 
Ahern promoted Ireland as a foreigner-friendly gateway for 
Asian investment in Europe.  DFA officials noted that while 
no trade deals were signed, Ahern seeded the ground for 
commercial agreements involving the expat Irish business 
communities in those countries.  More generally, the stops in 
Malaysia and Singapore offered chances for Ahern to compare 
the lessons of Ireland's Celtic Tiger economy with his 
counterparts' Asian Tiger experiences. 
 
2.  (SBU) The DFA officials pointed out that human rights had 
also featured on Ahern's agenda, as the Prime Minister 
reported during his October 20 briefing on the trip for the 
Dail (Parliament).  Ahern told the Dail that he had 
criticized Burma's ASEM representatives for not having made 
"a semblance of progress" and for having "broken their 
promises" regarding political reforms, human rights and 
fundamental freedoms.  Ahern also recounted that "listening 
to the responses of their representatives, it appears that 
they do not accept any of the criticisms of the rest of the 
democratic world."  Ahern informed the Dail that GOI plans to 
establish diplomatic relations with Burma were on hold, due 
to the Burmese Government's failure to release Aung San Suu 
Kyi (ASSK) from house arrest.  (In April, during Ireland's EU 
presidency, the GOI had made known its plans to exchange 
ambassadors with Burma on a non-residential basis under 
certain conditions, including ASSK's release.) 
KENNY