Participation in cooperative aerospace projects has been widely supported, enhancing the status of the U.S. in Indonesia. A selection process for a payload specialist for the June 1986 U.S. space shuttle flight stimulated considerable favorable publicity in Indonesia. The USGS, NOAA, other U.S. technical agencies and a number of private sector agencies also have conducted successful and beneficial projects in Indonesia during 1985.

Close U.S.-Indonesian cooperation in peaceful nuclear development is a high priority, made possible by the fact that Indonesia shares our basic nuclear non-proliferation and safeguards goals. In 1985 a number of Indonesian officials were provided training in the U.S., in collaboration with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Japan

Science and technology cooperation with Japan has for more than three decades served overriding U.S. foreign policy interests. Japan's access to Western science and technology has made a major contribution to its development into a stable and prosperous democracy closely allied with the United States and the West. Japan is now a recognized competitor in commercial technology, but it also presents opportunities for participation in new research and development through bilateral S&T cooperation. The State Department continues to review the science and technology relationship with Japan and most exchange programs are operating well. Areas for strengthening the program have been identified and are being discussed with Japanese government officials.

A significant number of U.S. technical agencies have memoranda of understanding and project agreements with Japanese counterpart agencies.

The NSF has acted as an implementing agency for an agreement with the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. This agreement originated in 1961 after President Kennedy's initiation of a U.S.-Japan committee to plan for cultural, economic and scientific cooperation. Activities under the agreement include cooperative research projects, exchange of scientists, joint seminars and project development visits. NSF and DOE currently are the implementing agencies for the U.S.-Japan Energy Agreement. NSF also participates, under the U.S.-Japan Agreement on Natural Resources, in a five-year cooperative program for large-scale testing of buildings in the area of earthquake engineering.

A separate U.S.-Japan Science and Technology agreement was signed in 1980 by President Carter and Prime Minister Ohira. The Science Advisor to the President is the U.S. representative under the terms of the agreement, which was renewed in May 1985 for two years.

The DHHS bilateral relations with Japan are covered under several agreements, including the Cooperative Medical Science Program, Cooperative Cancer Research, a MEDLARS agreement with the National Library of Medicine, Vision Research, Cooperation in Research and Development in Science and Technology, and Gerontology. The USGS has a Memorandum of Understanding with its counterpart agency in Japan to identify indicators of deep ore deposits and to test the usefulness of the indicators for resource assessment. NASA has cooperative agreements with

Japan for emergency landing sites for the U.S. space shuttle, and for the definition and preliminary design of a permanently manned space station. NOAA coordinates marine activities, marine facilities, marine mining, marine electronics and communications, aquaculture, diving physiology and technology, seabottom surveys and marine ecology projects under a cooperative program in natural resources. The USDA has projects in food health regulations, pest management and other areas that promote U.S. agricultural exports.

During 1985, discussions have also been held with the Japanese concerning large-scale research facilities, particularly in the fields of breeder reactors, fusion reactors, and high energy physics, for the purpose of trying to identify next steps which might be jointly undertaken. Success in these endeavors would be a significant step forward in achieving the U.S. objective of sharing the burden of supporting this advanced research and providing for timely access by U.S. researchers to the results of Japanese research and development.

Thailand

The

Following the signing of the umbrella S&T agreement in April 1985, U.S.-Thai relations in S&T gained new impetus. U.S. is now generally viewed as a genuine partner in Thailand's progress. Development assistance programs through AID represent a major component of U.S./Thai S&T cooperation. During FY 85, AID/Thailand developed a $49 million program for S&T. Funding comes from AID, the Royal Thai Government, and the private sector. These programs contribute to U.S. objectives of assisting Thailand's economic development through expanding its industrial, agricultural and human resource capabilities. Many of the Thai scientists have been trained in the U.S. and thus have familiarity with U.S. methods, equipment and technical products. U.S. programs seek to strengthen and expand these ties, both academically and commercially. Outside of the successful AID program, USGS and USDA and the Bureau of Mines are the principal agencies having interests and contacts with the scientific community in Thailand. Interest expanded during 1985 in the NIH Fogarty Fellowship Program.

Near East and South Asia

Egypt

AID programs in Egypt have become steadily more important and now dominate U.S.-Egyptian S&T relations. With the virtual ending of the PL-480 Special Foreign Currency Program, once the centerpiece of our S&T relations, AID will focus on

implementing a new approach to S&T for development in 1986. An overview of this approach, which will address identified national development problems, is provided in Chapter 14 of this Report. The FY 1985 AID budget for S&T in Egypt was $60.4 million.

India

Renewal of the Presidential Science and Technology Initiative (STI) initiated by President Reagan and Indira Gandhi in 1982 was an important outcome of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's State Visit to the U.S. during July 1985. At that time, the President and Prime Minister announced two new science programs as complementary spin-offs of the STI that

will broaden and expand the growing scientific relationships between the two nations. This initiative plus specific references to S&T cooperation by Prime Minister Gandhi during media interviews underscore the importance attached to these programs by the government of India. India is a country thirsty for scientific knowledge and technological advancement, and it would seem imperative that the U.S. maintain a leading role as a supplier and cooperative counterpart. Implicit in cooperative S&T efforts is acquisition of scientific information of value to the U.S. The S&T Initiative and a meeting of the Indo-U.S. Joint Commission in April 1985 laid the groundwork for some important cooperative efforts. Under the Joint Commission are subcommissions on agriculture, education and culture, and S&T, The latter is co-chaired by a Department of State representative.

The AID S&T program in India, which emphasizes development-oriented research and technology, supports activities in agriculture, forestry and environment, medical research, energy and the industrial/private sector. Additional information on this program is also provided in Chapter 14.

In August 1985, agreements were signed to establish a binational Program for the Advancement of Commercial Technology (PACT) patterned after the Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) model operated with Israel. With an AID grant of $10 million and managed through ICICI (Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India), this program will assist in finding and funding Indo-U.S. joint ventures for smaller high technology companies.

The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) through the Public Health Service (PHS) developed and recommended a new program of cooperation in the development of vaccines. The Indo-U.S. Vaccine Action Program (VAP) was formed and involves activities by a number of federal agencies under the auspices of the DHHS, including the PHS, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Overall, the PHS obligated $8.3 million equivalents in U.S.-owned rupees for the VAP and other projects. Cooperative efforts with India in health and biomedical sciences provides the U.S. excellent access to field testing sites for a variety of diseases and disorders.

The NSF operates a variety of exchange and cooperative programs with the Indian Council for Scientific and Technical Research and the Indian Department of Science and Technology. The Foundation supports exchange of administrative visits, guest scientists and cooperative research projects in the basic sciences and engineering. The Special Foreign Currency equivalent of $2 million has been allocated to these programs in recent years.

Under the Indo-U.S. STI, NOAA initiated a project on monsoon research in 1984. This project was expanded during 1985 with a program in long-term monsoon variability (see Chapter 10, "India"). A program on the numerical weather prediction of the monsoon, with the objective of improving methods of predicting the time, extent and intensity of the monsoon, also was initiated. NOAA provided data reader/printer equipment and a collection of major historical climatic data which the Indians will restructure into a form suitable for future analysis. A total of 12 Indian scientists visited NOAA laboratories for training during the past year.

Cooperative scientific activities carried out in India, and all international travel connected with such activities, have been funded in the past from U.S. holdings of excess Indian rupees. That source of funding ceased to be available on October 1, 1985. In anticipation of the end of excess rupees, Congress authorized the President to negotiate an agreement with the Indian government in 1984 to establish the U.S.-India Fund for Cultural, Educational and Scientific Cooperation (USIF). This endowment fund was based on the then available U.S.-owned rupees. In early 1985, Congress appropriated $110 million worth of U.S.-owned rupees as the initial capitalization of USIF. Congress intended for the interest earnings from the endowment to be used to maintain existing cooperative programs at roughly their past levels of activity.

Pending conclusion of a proposed bilateral agreement establishing a Joint Board of Governors for USIF, Congress in 1985 authorized the Administration to proceed unilaterally to finance cooperative programs in India from USIF interest earnings. Arrangements are completed for the appropriation of funds and their transfer to participating U.S. agencies.

Israel

The considerable bilateral S&T cooperation between the U.S. and Israel is testimony to the strong ties between these two nations. The USGS and its Israeli counterpart agency cooperate in earth sciences research and on the establishment of a station in the global seismograph network. The health agreement between the DHHS and the Ministry of Health of Israel was renewed for a second five-year period during 1985. The U.S. and Israeli agencies agreed to continue cooperation and to seek new opportunities for bilateral efforts. The NSF participates in a variety of activities under the U.S.-Israel Binational Science Foundation (BSF) agreement. These activities include the exchange of scientists and the conduct of joint seminars. Matching U.S. and Israeli funds have been used during the past year to support the three U.S.-Israel binational agencies: the Binational Industrial Research and Development Foundation (BIRD), the Binational Science Foundation (BSF), and the Binational Agricultural Research and Development Foundation (BARD). These foundations conduct comprehensive basic and applied research in areas of mutual interest. For further information on these foundations, readers are invited to consult last year's Title V report.

Pakistan

A cooperative and productive S&T relationship with Pakistan contributes to U.S. efforts to create a more stable and secure ally able to seek peaceful and cooperative relations with its neighbors, provide relief to approximately 2.5 million Afghan refugees and encourage the peaceful withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan. The focus of S&T collaborative efforts is with the Subcommission on Science and Technology of the U.S.-Pakistan Joint Commission, represented on the U.S. side by the State Department. The four priority areas for cooperation established by the subcommission are biotechnology and genetic engineering, oceanographic research, medical research and manpower training. Cooperative projects are funded directly by participating agencies. Interested U.S. scientists and researchers are also being assisted in identifying counterparts in host institutions in other areas offering possibilities for new initiatives, including geological and archeological research, anthropological, environmental and conservation studies, and exchange of technical information.

Latin America

Argentina

In recent years, unstable political and economic conditions dampened S&T development in Argentina, and many scientists left Argentina to work elsewhere. Nevertheless, significant achievements were made in nuclear development, mathematics and psychiatry. Compared to other countries in Latin America and the developing world, Argentina has long ranked high in S&T achievements, particularly in nuclear science and biomedicine; three Argentine researchers hold Nobel Prizes in biochemistry, medicine and physiology. The basic agreement governing U.S.-Argentina S&T cooperation is an agreement signed in 1972 and renewed in 1977 and 1982. The NSF and the Argentine National Council for Scientific and Technical Research are the Executive Agencies for a wide ranging program of joint activities, including joint research projects, seminars, research-oriented workshops and scientist exchange programs covering most fields of science and technology.

Mutually interesting cooperative projects have taken place recently in the basic sciences (especially in physics, biology and mathematics) in joint bio-medical research, especially on Chagas disease, in marine geology, in agriculture, among many other topics. Project sites have ranged from the far north down to Buenos Aires, with its modern Tander accelerator, to Tierra del Fuego, one of the world's natural bird sanctuaries. Because it can most advantageously be observed from the Southern Hemisphere, a major joint Halley's Comet observation project is now being put into place for February to April 1986 operations.

Argentina's respect for U.S. leadership in S&T matters is a primary force for good bilateral relations. At the same time, however, long-time differences on nuclear non-proliferation safeguards continue to restrict certain types of cooperative nuclear and related projects.

The Alfonsin government of Argentina has recognized the need to modernize the Argentine economy which has lost much of its technological head start in Latin America over the past decades. The government's efforts to revitalize Argentine S&T capabilities and achievements has included a campaign to attract emigre scientists back home. However, the severe ongoing Argentine debt, inflation and attendant balance of payments problems have put a damper on this S&T recovery effort and have also begun to seriously limit the size of our joint S&T Program.

Brazil

The new civilian government in Brazil endorsed the revised umbrella agreement signed by the U.S. and Brazil in 1984; ratification is anticipated soon. Both the current and the new agreement facilitate joint activities in a wide range of areas including agriculture, environment, space, oceanography, meteorology, health, basic sciences, natural resources, engineering and industrial technology, among others. Most programs under the agreement require cost sharing. This has proven to be a significant constraint on joint activities whenever Brazil's economic conditions preclude expenditures by Brazil on S&T activities, as was as the case this past year. From the U.S. viewpoint this means that many projects could not be undertaken.