MINISTRY OF OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT
Eland House Stag Place London SW1
Telephone 01-834 2377 ext 217
Enter & p.a. M
(13) 28/9.
A T Baillie Esq
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Great George Street
London SW1
Dear Baillie
Your reference
Our reference AID 273/77/01
Date
21 September 1970
I enclose a copy of a CDC request for our agreement in principle to their investing up to £2.5m in a project in Hong Kong for the construction and operation of a container terminal.
2.
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You will recall that we had some difficulty two years ago in approving a CDC application for an investment in a tourist-class hotel in Hong Kong Carr's letter of 26 September 1968 and your reply FP 24/2 of 4 October 1968 refer. We still see considerable difficulty about large amounts of aid money being put into Hong Kong and we shall be discussing this new proposel with the CDC in a general policy context. Before doing so, however, we should like to have at least a preliminary indication of your views on this application. The question essentially is not so much whether the project is a good one at first sight it certainly looks as if it will be commercially profitable but whether it is really necessary for the sponsors to look to the CDC for help in financing it. Our present inclination is to try to dissuade CDC from going ahead with their investment in the project though naturally we shall consider any further arguments they may be able to put forward in favour of it.
S
C
3. Our meeting with the CDC is arranged for 30 September and I should be very grateful therefore if you could let me know before then whether you have any comments to offer.
Your sincerely. Bir Basket
(R E Radford)
FRAD/ATB
3
*
14
RECEIVED IN REGISTRY NO. 51
C.SEPT.
HICK 21/4-
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