Mr. Laird.
Reference....
Technical Education
Sp
Hong Kong.
но
Mr. Kisch, Head of Caribbean & Pacific Dept. of ODA (who deal with capital aid and technical assistance to Hong Kong), telephoned to-day. He is rather bothered about the proposal to give aid to the Technical Institutes and commented on the peculiarity of the case resting on a single conversation between Mr. Tang and Mr. Royle. His main point was that no one knows the attitude of the Hong Kong Government to this request by Mr. Tang. He feels that there is no aid merit in the proposal but possibly trade merit and therefore it is not ODA's business.
2. Mr. Martin, who will be visiting Hong Kong in February after his Pacific tour, has been briefed to try to find out the official attitude in Hong Kong on this request.
3. So far we have not mentioned the matter to the Hong Kong Government since we are not yet sure whether the money will be forthcoming but it may be advisable to write unofficially to the Colonial Secretary telling him about our efforts so that the Hong Kong Government are aware of them before Mr. Martin starts asking questions.
4. If you agree, I will draft a letter to Sir H. Norman-Walker.
ая
G.F.Kinnear
2.2.71
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