US embassy cable - 03COLOMBO413

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 000413 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
FOR SA,SA/INS,D 
 
PASS TO USAID AMBASSADOR, WENDY CHAMBERLAIN, AA/ANE; GORDON 
WEST, DAA/ANE; JAMES BEVER AND BERNADETTE BUNDY, ANE/SA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID, CE, LTTE - Peace Process 
SUBJECT: THIRD PLANNING MEETING FOR TOKYO 
 
 
1.   The third planning meeting of the Tokyo Core Group was 
held on March 10.  The Japanese Ambassador said that his 
Government was waiting for confirmations from countries 
asked to co-chair the Tokyo Conference.  Subsequent to the 
co-chair confirmations the Japanese would determine which 
countries and organizations should attend but he anticipated 
that EU members, ASEAN, SARC countries, China, Korea, UAE, 
Kuwait and Saudi Arabia would be invited, subject to the 
approval of the co-chairs. On the issue of seminars, the 
Japanese Ambassador confirmed that his government had been 
overly ambitious in planning for four pre-conference 
meetings.  The Tokyo seminar is cancelled and he asked the 
GSL to see if the EU had an interest in the proposed seminar 
there.  The GOJ would wait until it had a confirmation on 
the co-chair issue before exploring a Brussels seminar 
further. 
 
2.   Since the Washington Seminar dates have been set, 
Ambassador Wills requested further advice from the GSL on 
its goals and possible topics for discussion.  Based on what 
the Post learned earlier, the Ambassador laid out a possible 
scenario for the Washington Seminar for the group to 
consider. The nations invited would be similar to the 
initial list set out by the Japanese Ambassador.  The 
Ambassador suggested three or four presentations of 10-15 
minutes each covering an update on the Peace Talks by the 
GSL and Norway, a macro-economic assessment by the IMF, and 
a summary of the Needs Assessment by the IFIs.  Minister 
Moragoda said the GSL was thinking about doing a short 
multimedia presentation covering the peace process, 
Regaining Sri Lanka and the GSL priorities. The goal is to 
get donor buy-in prior to Tokyo. 
 
3.   The Ambassador also raised the issue of attaching 
milestones to assistance disbursement to ensure that donor 
values will be reflected in the way funds are spent. This is 
a key issue for a large number of bilateral donors. The 
World Bank representative concurred but stated that peace 
conditionalities were a very sensitive topic.  Minister 
Moragoda indicated that if this were going to be raised, we 
would need to consider carefully how to structure the 
discussion. 
 
4.   There was considerable discussion about the UN/ADB/WB 
Needs Assessment for the North and East and the location of 
the validation workshop.  This was a sensitive issue because 
the LTTE wants it on its turf although accommodating the 
Tigers is logistically difficult.  Several suggestions on 
multiple workshops or a more centrally located venue in the 
North or East were discussed.  It was agreed that more 
thought needed to be given to the issue.  The GSL vetted its 
ideas on the nature and number of documents that would be 
available for the seminars and the actual Conference and the 
level of detail required by donors prior to pledging. The 
decision was to avoid getting into the weeds but to have the 
backup information available on actual projects and places 
on a database. 
 
5.   The first meeting of the Tokyo Wider Group was held 
immediately following the Core Group meeting.  This wider 
group includes the Ambassadors and High Commissioners from 
countries that participated in the OSLO donor meeting, the 
Director General of the Peace Secretariat, Secretary of the 
Ministry of Enterprise Development, Chairman of the Board of 
Investment, Representative from UNICEF and UNHCR, the 
President of the National Chamber of Commerce, Chairman of 
the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and the Director of the 
Consortium of Humanitarian Assistance, representing the NGO 
community. 
 
6.   A recap of the planning done to date by the Tokyo Core 
Group was provided by Minister Moragoda and the Japanese 
Ambassador.  The IFIs spoke about the PRGF and CAS documents 
which have been sent to their boards for review and 
approval. The PRGF arrangement is for $560 million which is 
a combination of PRGF and EFF funds. The UN Rep reported on 
the Needs Assessment progress and planned validation 
workshop. The remainder of the meeting focused on the pre- 
Tokyo Seminars. 
 
7.   Since the Washington Seminar was the first in line 
Ambassadors were interested in the level of representation 
which was expected. Ambassador Wills indicated that the 
Ministerial and Senior Deputy level from Ministries of 
Finance and Development Cooperation would be invited. 
Because the Seminar was scheduled for the day after the 
close of the World Bank/IMF meetings, the Japanese 
Ambassador requested that the US provide an early 
notification to invitee countries so that they could include 
the Seminar in the travel plans. 
 
 
WILLS