2600224
C.S. 84
RESTRICTED
- 3
XCR(69)221
the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and other departments of the British Government (notably the Board of Trade), together with organisations such as the Anglo-Hong Kong Parliamentary Group, the Hong Kong Association, and the local offices of the Trade Develop- ment Council and various Tourist Associations. In addition, although the London Office has no diplomatic status, the Director has to attend many time-consuming social functions and to brief Members of Parliament visiting Hong Kong. The Office also has to undertake many other tasks which include assisting Government officers and visitors to and from Hong Kong over their travel and accommodation bookings, answering immigration queries, briefing persons who give talks on Hong Kong, providing typing and office facilities for visiting Hong Kong officials on duty.
8
These various tasks have collectively tended to divert effort and attention from the "commerce and industry" functions which formerly were the main responsibilities of the Office. An Assistant Director of Commerce and Industry was posted to the London Office in May last year with the intention of taking over the Directorship on Mr Sedgwick's retirement. It quickly became apparent, however, that in order to undertake his primary responsibility of keeping British commercial, economic and industrial developments, and official thinking on world- wide trade policies under review, and to advise on the likely repercussions of these developments on Hong Kong's interests, he would need to be completely free of the extraneous and increasing commitments of the Director of the London Office. This Assistant Director of Commerce and Industry has, therefore, since become a separate part of the establishment of the London Office, assuming exclusive responsibility for all functions relating to commerce and industry. Relevant also to this is the recent reorganisation of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and the need to ensure that Hong Kong's trading interests can be quickly interpreted to any officials who have not had continuous responsibility for overseeing them in the old Colonial and Common- wealth Offices. The Assistant Director's responsibilities are therefore primarily to keep British commercial, economic and industrial develop- ments, and official thinking on worldwide trade policies, under review and to advise on the likely repercussions of these developments on Hong Kong's interests.
(b) Hong Kong House
9
A Board of Governors of which the Director is Vice-Chairman advises on the Administration of Hong Kong House. Day to day admin- istration is in the hands of the Director of the London Office and his staff acting on the advice of the Board but also within general Govern- ment directives received from the Colonial Secretariat. The history of the House has been far from uneventful and although the constitution of the Board of Governors has recently been amended to include student representation, proposals are being considered to replace this Board by a simpler Management Committee.
RESTRICTED