CONFIDENTIAL
L/M94 in EBCR 27/6199/45
17th August 1974
Dear Sir,
I am directed to offer you appointment as a Deputy Director of Commerce and Industry in the Commerce and Industry Department of the Hong Kong Government. Upon appointment, you will be employed in the Hong Kong Government Office in Brussels. The appointment would be on agreement on the conditions set out in this letter and in the attached 'Memorandum on Conditions of Service for Overseas Officers" (G.F. 341) and "Special Conditions for Officers posted Overseas from Hong Kong" (Establishment Regulations 2020-2033) subject to paragraph 4 below. The appointment will take effect from the date on which you leave the United Kingdom for Hong Kong as provided for in paragraph 6 of this letter or the date on which you assume duty in Brussels should this be earlier; will be for 21⁄2 years in the first instance and will be renewable subject to satisfactory completion of this agreement and if mutually desired.
2.
Your title in Europe will be Minister (Hong Kong Commercial Affairs) and you will as such be attached to the British Embassy in Brussels but you will not for any purpose be considered or act as the deputy to the British Ambassador. Your duties, which may be subject to review, will be principally to act as the diplomatic representative of Hong Kong's commercial interests with the European Communities and the Member States thereof, both in Brussels and in the capitals of the Member States and also, in the context of Hong Kong's commercial relations with the Communities and the Member States, to keep under review commercial and economic development in the Communities, to advise the Director of Commerce and Industry of the likely effects of such developments and to recommend action. While you will for formal purposes (e.g. accreditation, diplomatic privileges) be subordinate to the British Ambassador in Belgium and when in Member States' capitals, to the British Ambassadors there, you will report to and receive your instructions from the Hong Kong Government through the Director of Commerce and Industry.
C.B. Burgess, Esq., C.M.G., O.B.E.,
Washoe Lodge,
Brimpton,
Reading RG7 4T2,
England,
United Kingdom.
13.
2
3.
The post is at Administrative Officer Staff Grade B level. The salary of this post is currently $11,950 p.m. (or about £998.32 sterling p.m. at current rated of exchange). In addition to that remuneration, you will receive a variable special allowance designed to ensure that your total take-home pay is approximately the same as that in pound sterling of a D.S. Grade 3 officer in the British Embassy in Brussels after tax has been taken into consideration. At current rates, the variable additional allowance will be about £484.73 sterling p.m. (or approximately HK$5,802.24 p.m.). Your emoluments may be paid into a bank account in Hong Kong or though the Hong Kong imprest account in the Brussels Office, and you should signify your preference in this respect to the Director of Commerce and Industry. The appointment will not preclude you from continuing to draw your Hong Kong Government pension.
The following provisions will apply to your posting:
(a) Official Entertainment
Officers of Ministerial rank and Heads of Diplomatic Missions of the United Kingdom Government do not receive an entertainment allowance as such but a 'frais de representation' ( a non-accountable allowance covering expenses incurred in carrying out representational duties) is payable. The variable special allowance referred to in paragraph 3 above has been weighted to
You take this 'frais de representation' into account. will not therefore be eligible for a separate entertain- ment allowance.
(b) Hong Kong Salaries Tax
.
You will be required to pay Hong Kong Salaries Tax on the pay and allowances pertaining to the appointment. As regards refund of rent, (see House Allowance dealt with below), you will not be required to pay tax on this, subject to your forwarding to the Director of Commerce and Industry the monthly receipts showing that you have paid the full amount as rent. However, you will be assessed on a 'rental value' calculated at 7% of your total pay and allowances excluding the rent refund. foregoing is naturally without prejudice to any legislative
which might changes to the Inland Revenue Ordinance occur during the period of your agreement.
(c) Disturbance Grant
(a)
You will be eligible for Disturbance Grants under Establishment Regulation 2020 upon initially moving to Brussels and upon your final departure from that post.
House Allowance
This allowance, which is payable under Establishment Regulation 2021 will take the form of a rent refund
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5.
CONFIDENTIAL
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(see (b) above). You will be able to claim a rent refund up to a maximum equivalent to the rent allowance appropriate to a Minister in the United Kingdom Embassy in Brussels to cover the cost of renting furnished accommodation. The current rate is £500 p.m. (or approximately HK$5,985, at the current rate of exchange).
(e) Subsistence Allowance
The rate of subsistence allowance payable for Brussels is currently HK$150 per night (or £12.53 sterling per night at current rates of exchange) and your attention is drawn to limitations contained in Establishment Regulation 2025.
(f) Baggage Allowances
You may claim these allowances under Establishment Regulation 2026(b).
(g) Medical Expenses
The provisions of Establishment Regulation 2033(b) will apply.
(h) Leave
(i)
The provisions of Establishment Regulations 2031(b) and (c) will apply as for oversens officers.
Subsistence Allowance for Duty Visits to Hong Kong
The provisions of Establishment Regulation 2030 will apply.
(j) Duty and Leave Passages
These will be at First Class ir rates.
(k) Exchange Rates
In respect of such of your emoluments drawn in Brussels, the exchange rate will be whatever is being used at that time by the British Emabssy in Brussels for allowance and salary based transactions. The current rate is BF98 = £1. In respect of the HK, the mid-market rate at present is £1 HK$11.97.
I attach for your information a copy of Establishment Circular No. 26 of 10th May 1971 concerning the Acceptance of Advantages Regulations and the Establishment Regulations on Entertainment.
6.
If you accept this offer of appointment, the Hong Kong Commissioner in London will arrange for you to be medically examined
/and