14/7
8/14.7.
Our reference: 21/9
Your reference:
ļ
A F Toms Esq
CONFIDENTIAL
BRITISH TRADE COMMISSION IN HONG KONG 7th Floor, Shell House, Queen's Road, Central, HONG KONG Mail Address: P.O. Box No. 528, Hong Kong Cable Address: "Uktrade Hongkong" Telephone: 230176
8 July 1971
Department of Trade & Industry
1 Victoria Street
London SW1
dear?
no fuce
каваро
we can
there seeligmans
I took the opportunity afforded by an inaccurate press report, which stated that the Hong Kong Government had given the go-ahead for the Underground Railway system, to call to-day on Tony Shephard, the Commissioner for Transport,
The current state of play is as follows. A small committee has been appointed, primarily I gather of Government officials, to draft a submission to Executive Council on the pros and cons of the mass transit system. The submission, however, will also embrace recommendations concerning the Colony's transport problems as a whole, instead of looking at the Underground Railway system in isolation. To me this appears as a further delaying tactic by senior members of the Hong Kong Government, some of whom we know are opposed to the scheme. Shephard, however, believes that it is a genuine attempt to formulate a much-needed overall traffic policy for the Colony.
The initial draft of this major document is being prepared by Shephard and Richard Butler, the Assistant Commissioner for Transport. They consider that it should be ready for submission to Executive Council by December. If this timetable is adhered
to, they believe that there might well be merit in a visit to Hong Kong by a senior member of the British consortium around November/December. The purpose would be to assure senior members of the ilong Kong Government, both official and unofficial, that British industry was eager to undertake construction of the project, and that they had the backing of ECGD.
Shephard also told me that he understood that Sir Douglas Clague (he received a knighthood in the Birthday Honours) was currently having talks in the UK on the subject of joining the British consortiumi. John Weedon of GEC (Hong Kong) Limited had also told me this a day or two earlier. It would be most useful
discuss
1417
CONFIDENTIAL
/if you could
Every effort is made to ensure that the information given herein is accurate, but no legal responsibility is accepted for any errors or omis- sions in that information and no responsibility is accepted in regard to the standing of any firms, companies, or individuals mentioned.
Page 60Page 61