*EPF305 12/31/2003
Text: Bush Formally Designates Thailand as Major Non-NATO Ally
(December 30 press release of Presidential Designation) (380)

President Bush announced in a December 30 press release the formal designation of Thailand as a Major Non-NATO Ally (MNNA) and directed the fact to be published in the Federal Register.

Bush had publicly announced his intention to do so October 19, 2003, during his State Visit to the Kingdom of Thailand.

MNNA Status does not entail the same mutual defense and security guarantees
afforded to North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) members. But designation as a MNNA (under Section 517 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended) does makes a nation eligible:

-- to enter into agreements with the U.S. government for the cooperative furnishing of training on a bilateral or multilateral basis under reciprocal financial arrangements that may exclude reimbursement for indirect costs and certain other charges;
-- to use U.S.-provided Foreign Military Financing for commercial leasing of certain defense articles;
-- to receive loans of materials, supplies and equipment for cooperative research and development (R&D) projects;
-- to buy depleted uranium ammunition;
-- to have U.S.-owned War Reserve Stockpiles on its territory outside of U.S. military installations;
-- to benefit from expedited processing of export licenses of commercial satellites, their technologies, components, and systems.

Thailand has been a treaty ally of the United States for nearly 50 years, since the 1954 Manila Pact. It joins the following countries in achieving MNNA status: Australia, Egypt, Israel, Japan, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Jordan, Argentina, Bahrain and the Philippines.

Following is the text of the White House press release:

(begin text)

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary
(Crawford, Texas)
For Immediate Release
December 30, 2003

December 30, 2003

Presidential Determination No. 2004-16

MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF STATE

SUBJECT: Designation of the Kingdom of Thailand as a Major Non-NATO Ally

Consistent with the authority vested in me, by section 517 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended ("the Act"), I hereby designate the Kingdom of Thailand as a Major Non-NATO Ally of the United States for the purposes of the Act and the Arms Export Control Act.

You are authorized and directed to publish this determination in the Federal Register.

GEORGE W. BUSH

(end text)

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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