Foreign and Commonwealth Office London SW1
Telephone 01-
32
Miss C H Welch
DTI
CRF 2
1 Victoria Street
London SW1
Your reference
Our reference
Date
20 February 1973
MR ALY AZIZ
1. We spoke very briefly about Mr Aly Aziz's complaint to Mr Kershaw, which Miss Rigby's minute attached amplifies.
2.
I should be glad of any comments you may have on this. I am sending a copy of this letter and the enclosures to MacLean in your Overseas Finance and Projects Division because of the interest shown earlier by Mr Aziz in the mass rapid transit system in Hong Kong.
3.
I understand that Mr Aziz has an associate in Hong Kong, Mr Denman, and it is possible that he has picked up some reaction to Mr Aziz's interest in the underground. My own guess is that these comments are a distortion of something that Tom Aston may have said, again in connexion with the underground railway. We know that Mr Aziz was trying to establish himself as a front runner instead of the British consortium headed by GEC and supported by HMG. We also know that Mr Aziz's statements were not always completely accurate. This would I think establish a context in which something might have been said which could be interpreted as "bad things".
4.
I should be glad of any lead you or MacLean can give.
Copy (with encs) to:
A MacLean Esq
DTI
M A Goodfellow
Hong Kong & Indian Ocean
Department