US embassy cable - 05MUSCAT444

UNCLAS MUSCAT 000444 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR NEA/ARPI (TROBERTS), NEA/PPD (CWHITTLESEY), NEA/P 
(FFINVER), INR/R/MR 
LONDON FOR GOLDRICH 
PARIS FOR ZEYA 
USCENTCOM FOR PLUSH 
FOREIGN PRESS CENTER/ASILAS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAO, KMDR, OIIP, MU, Public Affairs, Economic Affairs 
SUBJECT: SPECIAL MEDIA REACTION:  FULL OF PRAISE FOR FTA 
 
 
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Open Economies, Increased Opportunities 
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1. On March 12, the government-owned Arabic daily "Oman" carried 
an editorial entitled "Welcoming the FTA Negotiations": 
 
"Concluding the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the  Sultanate 
of  Oman  and  the  United  States  will  eventually  reduce  the 
competitive pressure on Omani merchants to market and sell  their 
products,  particularly in the textile market, which has  had  to 
compete  vigorously with products from other countries.  The  FTA 
will  allow these types of Omani products to enter the US  market 
free  of any duties or other financial obligations.  On the other 
side,  the Omani market will also gain the opportunity to attract 
US  investments.   The Sultanate is very much  committed  to  its 
obligations  within the Arab League and the GCC, but  is  equally 
keen  to  boost its trade links with various regional as well  as 
international parties." 
 
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Shared Vision, Shared Goals 
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2. "Oman" also published an editorial on March 13 entitled 
"Toward Further Integration In The World Economy": 
 
"While the first round of negotiations is underway, there is much 
hope  and optimism that this round will achieve the goals it  has 
set.  Hopes have been enhanced about the possibility of achieving 
tangible results during this and coming rounds, due to the  well- 
established ties between the two friendly nations.  This hope  is 
based  not  only  on the long history of amity  between  the  two 
countries  and  peoples, but also on the  genuine  will  by  both 
nations to further develop their relations to better serve  their 
mutual interests.  The FTA negotiations add another dimension  in 
support of this multidimensional relationship which will  have  a 
positive  impact  for the two countries and also  for  the  whole 
region." 
 
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Results And Next Steps 
---------------------- 
 
3. On March 14, "Oman" published an article entitled "Today The 
Announcement Of The Results Of The First Round Of Negotiations 
Between The Sultanate And The United States": 
 
"The working teams formed to discuss the topics related to the 
FTA negotiations between the Sultanate and the United States will 
continue today in order to accomplish what had been discussed 
during the past two days.  The most important topics discussed 
during this first round of negotiations have been: services, 
technical barriers to trade, intellectual property rights, 
textiles sector, labor, and legal affairs, access to markets, 
customs, and certificates of origin, investment and financial 
services, and government procurement.  Today, Maqbool Ali Sultan, 
Minister of Commerce and Industry, and Catherine Novelli, 
Assistant U.S. Trade Representative to Europe and the 
Mediterranean, and head of the American negotiating team will 
hold a joint press conference explaining what decisions have been 
reached at the conclusion of the first round of negotiations and 
will secure the dates for the upcoming second round of FTA 
negotiations to be held in Washington, D.C." 
 
BALTIMORE