Ambassador Wahba’s Remarks at 2nd US-UAE Strategic Partnership Meeting
Abu Dhabi, March 21, 2004
Your Highness, Excellency, Assistant Secretary Burns, Distinguished guests, First of all, I want to express my profound gratitude to the Government of the United Arab Emirates and to the Emirati people for their tremendous hospitality during the three years that I have served here as the United States Ambassador. When I leave the Emirates in a few months, I will take with me many good memories of my experience in the UAE and one of them will be our strategic partnership – which has become a very effective way to manage our wide ranging bilateral relationship.
This second Strategic Partnership meeting is a testimony to the hard work exerted by many people at many levels in our respective governments, our business communities, and our non-governmental organizations. This Strategic Partnership could not have been forged without everyone’s efforts. At the same time, the myriad bilateral activities that comprise the Strategic Partnership could not have been realized without the political commitment of our governments.
Although we may be tempted at some point to put these activities on auto pilot, I believe our strategy to bring Americans and Emiratis together to tackle the issues face-to-face in working groups both in the UAE and in the United States has served us well and should continue to do so. After all, it was only after marathon negotiating sessions that our respective legal experts reached agreement on an Article 98, one of the major achievements of the past year. Similarly, we would not have a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement had it not been for the trade and legal experts’ discussions during several exchange visits.
Time will not allow me to cover each and every Strategic Partnership achievement today, but I would like to review some of the most important highlights since we met for the first Strategic Dialogue in Washington in November 2002.
The Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, or TIFA, certainly represents for us one of our greatest milestones. A TIFA signing ceremony was held in Washington on March 15 in the presence of UAE Minister of State for Finance and Industry, Dr. Mohammed Khalfan Bin Kharbash, and United States Trade Representative Robert Zoellick. TIFAs are typically the initial fora for dialogue with the U.S. Government on economic reform and trade liberalization. TIFAs promote the establishment of legal protections for investors, improvements in intellectual property protection, more transparent and efficient customs procedures, and greater transparency in government and commercial regulations. Through this process, the U.S. Government can identify potential partners for further trade cooperation, such as free trade agreements. In consultation with Congress, the U.S. Government is pursuing a series of Free Trade Agreements with Middle Eastern countries to build on those already concluded with Israel and Jordan. These agreements are designed to expand bilateral trade through commitments to high standards and comprehensive trade liberalization. With the TIFA signing, the UAE joins the list of Middle Eastern trading partners that are in close and active consultations with us and that have a strong interest in concluding an FTA with us. More open markets in the UAE and in other countries will offer significant opportunities for U.S. exporters and reinforce economic reform efforts.
A second major achievement was the Article 98 agreement which went into force on February 15. The UAE thus became the 82nd country with which the US has a bilateral non-surrender (“Article 98”) agreement protecting American and UAE citizens from the International Criminal Court (ICC). United States military forces, civilian personnel and private citizens are currently active in peacekeeping and humanitarian missions in more than 100 countries. Article 98 Agreements, which are provided for in the Rome Statute that created the International Criminal Court, allow the United States to remain engaged internationally with our friends and allies by providing our citizens with essential protection from the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, particularly against politically motivated investigations and prosecutions.
The third highly significant accomplishment is in the domain of Export controls. We have cooperated very effectively during the last year on export controls. In June 2003, nine UAE officials from the Ministry of Interior, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai Police, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and airport security attended the global transshipment conference in Sydney, Australia. They returned to the UAE convinced that the export controls regime in Hong Kong and Singapore could be replicated here. The UAE Government officials realized the immediate need for export controls legislation and a controlled items list as first building blocks to establishing a regime in the UAE. As part of a U.S.-UAE action plan designed to build an effective UAE export controls regime within 1-2 years, the UAE hosted an inter-agency team of U.S. experts in December to conduct a legal and technical workshop to help UAE Government participants draft basic export controls legislation. The participants in the Legal Technical Forum wanted nuts-and-bolts information on drafting an export controls law, and sought ways to innovatively integrate the US Government’s suggestions into the UAE’s existing legal and regulatory framework. Dialogue between the U.S. and UAE legal experts on that draft legislation has continued, and we are optimistic that the U.S. team will return in April to work with the UAE Government in creating a controlled items list.
In addition to signing a TIFA, agreeing to an Article 98, and strengthening export controls, our two countries have been cooperating in numerous other ways.
With respect to our military cooperation, it is important to note that we will be holding the first ever session of the U.S.-UAE Joint Military Commission in Abu Dhabi on May 1-2. This commission will discuss our excellent military-to-military cooperation that is an important pillar in our bilateral relationship. We have conducted a series of military cooperation programs, including joint exercises, education and training. The Commission, which will meet annually, contributes to the planning and execution of these joint efforts. The agenda will focus on the ongoing Global War on Terror and mutual counter-terrorism efforts, the link between terrorism and the flourishing narcotics traffic in the region, and our efforts to counter the proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction.
In the political arena, we are working to implement progress with the UAE under the umbrella of the Middle East Partnership Initiative. Starting with the first “Judicial Reform Workshop” in Bahrain last September, a program which several Emirati law professionals attended, the MEPI is fast becoming a popular vehicle for bringing together experts from both the U.S. and the region to promote reform. Our goal is to support you in the reform efforts you are committed to take that are appropriate for you and your country.
MEPI and the Government of Jordan hosted an Arab Women’s Judicial Workshop in February in Amman. The workshop brought Emirati and other Arab women judges, legal activists, and Islamic scholars together to discuss increasing women’s opportunities in the legal profession, as well as critical issues affecting women and youth in the legal system. Also in February, Emirati and other women from Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen attended the Gulf Regional Campaign School organized by the International Republican Institute (IRI).
In the future, we hope to work with colleagues in the region on an even broader array of programs focusing on civil society, good governance, and the media. In addition, we want to encourage visits to the UAE by U.S. Congressional members and their staff.
Aside from the TIFA, we have been discussing a range of economic issues with your government. One of our next major goals is the reinstatement of Overseas Private Investment Corporation programs in the UAE. An important step for that to happen is passage of a new labor law and appropriate amendments that provide for the creation of labor organizations to ensure laborers’ rights to organize and bargain collectively. We understand that a draft labor law could be released by mid-2004. We view this as another important step taken by the UAE Government to bring domestic labor law into conformity with international standards.
Counterterrorism and law enforcement cooperation have been remarkable. Following the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States, and revelations that terrorists had moved funds through the UAE, the Emirati authorities acted swiftly to address potential vulnerabilities and, in close concert with the United States, to freeze the funds of groups with terrorist links. To date, the Central Bank has frozen a total of $3.13 million in 18 bank accounts in the UAE since 9/11. Additionally, the Anti Money Laundering and Suspicious Cases Unit has provided international organizations and its counterpart Financial Investigative Units data on 172 cases related to terrorist financing.
Both federal and Emirate-level officials have gone on record as recognizing the threat money laundering activities in the UAE pose to the nation’s security and have taken significant steps in 2003 to better monitor cash flows through the UAE financial system. The UAE government has sought to crackdown on potential vulnerabilities in the financial markets and has provided outstanding cooperation in the international effort to prevent money laundering, particularly by terrorists.
The UAE government implemented a law to criminalize money laundering, to include terrorist financing, in January 2002. The Central Bank has circulated to all financial institutions under its supervision the lists of individuals and entities suspected of terrorism and terrorist financing included in UN Security Council resolutions.
Following the very successful May 2002 Hawala Conference in Abu Dhabi, the UAE Central Bank will host the Second International Conference on Hawala in Abu Dhabi, April 3-4. The theme of this year’s conference will be “Best Practices on the Supervision of informal funds transfer systems.” We look forward to participating.
We expect to continue negotiations with the UAE on a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) in the months ahead. We also will be adding a U.S. Department of Justice legal adviser to the Embassy staff to work with us and UAE law enforcement officials to develop and implement training and technical assistance plans.
In the educational realm, we have implemented the GLOBE earth science education program sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which involves schools, computer and Internet access, teachers and students. Despite the significant drop in educational exchange programs since September 11, we are working with our Emirati colleagues in the various universities in the UAE to promote educational opportunities in the U.S., and our Fulbright program has grown to six American professors and student researchers this year.
Finally, the tremendous work that the UAE Government has done to address the Trafficking in Persons problem deserves special mention. In the U.S. Government’s last Trafficking in Persons report, the UAE achieved a rare jump from Tier 3 to Tier 1 because of the efforts you made to comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. Tough measures have been implemented to enforce the September 2002 ban on child camel jockeys. Law enforcement officials have created programs to assist and protect trafficking victims. But we all know that there is still work to be done here and around the globe — for this is a truly global issue. Active involvement from the UAE law enforcement agencies in investigating and prosecuting traffickers and others who profit from trafficking is essential to discouraging this terrible trade. Over the next year, we will work together to strengthen laws and offer training opportunities to strengthen our battle against this international scourge.
As you can see, there has been remarkable progress since our first Strategic Dialogue in November 2002. I want to express my sincere gratitude to His Highness Shaykh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan for the strong leadership he has demonstrated to the Strategic Partnership. I also want to commend His Excellency Abdullah Rashid Al Nuaimi and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs staff for their hard work, commitment, and partnership. I also would like to mention my deep appreciation for all the outstanding support we have received from our colleagues in Washington particularly our team in NEA under the leadership of Assistant Secretary Bill Burns. We look forward to broadening and deepening our relationship in the year ahead.
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