RESTRICTED
Foreign and Commonwealth Office London SW1
PA
Telephone 01-
21/x5
D N Royce Esq
Overseas Finance and Planning Division Dept. of Trade and Industry
1 Victoria St
SW1
Your reference
Our reference
Date
14 December 1973
(361)
HONG KONG MASS TRANSIT SYSTEM
1.
You may like to see the attached extract from the Hong Kong Standard of 4 December suggesting that even the test boreholes for the mass transit system have been held up because of the difficult nature of the soil and rock. Together with Tom Aston's telegram recording press reports that the Japanese may be having second thoughts on a fixed price contract, this suggests both that the Anglo-Italian consortium were quite right not to take a chance on the result of the soil surveys, and that the fate of the contract is not yet finally decided.
2.
I am not suggesting that the Anglo-Italian consortium should keep their organisation in being in expectation of a withdrawal or failure of the Japanese bid; but it does seem that this is a possibility which we need not finally rule out.
CC
Mr Youde, FCO
A C Stuart
Hong Kong & Indian Ocean Dept.
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