CONFIDENTIAL
GUIDELINES FOR THE GOVERNOR DESIGNATE OF HONG KONG: PAPER B
Domestic Policies
General
1. First and foremost the economy of the Colony must be
maintained. This means on the one hand securing adequate
export outlets, and on the other taking whatever steps are
necessary to assure investment, flexibility of production and
a management cadre and labour force with the necessary
expertise. There has been no real difficulty in obtaining
these conditions in the circumstances of expanding world
trade which have existed since the war, but it is uncertain
whether they will now continue. This uncertainty coincides
with a time at which the Hong Kong Government is facing
decisions on the biggest expenditures in its history on
such items as mass transit, desalinisation, urban renewal
and secondary and technical education, that will commit
resources well into the 1980s. Something of an act of
faith may be necessary and in this connection the
considerations in Paper A on long term planning are
highly relevant.
J
2. On the domestic front broadly speaking since the war
the Hong Kong Government has been immersed in a series of
vast emergency programmes resulting from the need first
to rebuild the Colony, and secondly to cope with problems
resulting from the quadrupling of the population in 20 years.
Great as has been the Government's success, I expect to find
/ that
CONFIDENTIAL