NOTE OF A MEETING, IN SIR PETER THORNTON'S ROOM AT 12.30 PM ON
WEDNESDAY 21 JULY.
Present:-
Sir Murray MacLehose, KCMG, Governor of Hong Kong
Sir Peter Thornton Mr Roberts (CRE4)
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Welcoming the Governor, Sir Peter Thornton said that there were no particular matters we wished to raise with him at this time, but that it might be useful to discuss the changing relationship between Britain and Hong Kong. The view that Britain had a special obligation to maintain a liberal policy on imports from Hong Kong had, over the last two or three years, given way to one wherein Hong Kong was no more deserving of special treatment than Britain's other trading. partners. Pressure on the Government for measures of protection against imports from Hong Kong, especially textiles, was not likely to diminish, and would be difficult to resist in view of Britain's worsening adverse balance of trade with Hong Kong. While there were no plans for imminent action against Hong Kong, there was this change in attitudes which might affect future policy.
Sir Murray MacLehose said that Hong Kong asked no more than that Britain stood by her international obligations towards Hong Kong, and did not seek special treatment. He said that Hong Kong still saw itself as having a special relationship with Britain, and that there was a general willingness to buy British whenever it was not unduly disadvantageous to do so. The recent award of contracts in the Mass Transit scheme to British tenderers to some extent reflected this. Hong Kong still imported over £150m worth of goods a year from Britain, a total expected to rise to £200m in the coming year, making it a far more important customer than, say, Korea, or China. Yet when British exporters visited the Far East it was on these latter three markets that they concentrated, paying scant regard to the (greater) opportunities available in Hong Kong. The Governor suggested that British exporters should be made aware of the potential for selling to Hong Kong, possibly through seminars with groups of leading businessmen such as Mr Shore had held in the past. Mr Roberts observed that Mr Kinnear, the HK Trade Commissioner, would be in Britain from next week, and that he would be talking to exporters about the opportunities available.
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