BRITAIN.
111 AN UNATTRIBUTABLE PRESS BRIEFING SHOULD BE TAKEN IN LONDON BY
LIPPITT AT WHICH DAVIDSON AND SCOTT (GEC): BIRCH (ECGD): KINDERSLEY AND GEMMILL (LAZARDS) AND MACDONALD (INDUSTRY)
SHOULD BE PRESENT.
5. FOR THE PRESS BRIEFING THE DEPARTMENT WOULD PROVIDE AN OFF-THE
-RECORD BACKGROUND NOTE WHICH INDICATED THAT:
THE PRIME MINISTER EXPRESSED INTEREST IN THE CONTRACT WHEN HE
MET SIR LAWRENCE KADOORIE, LAST MARCH. SIR LAWRENCE SAID THAT
CLP AND EXXON WISHED TO BUY BRITISH EQUIPMENT BY NEGOTIATED CONTRACT (WITHOUT GOING TO INTERNATIONAL TENDER) AS HAD BEEN
ITS PAST PRACTICE. IT WAS ACCEPTED THAT THE PRICES WOULD HAVE
TO BE INTERNATIONALLY COMPETITIVE:
THE DEPARTMENT, FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, HAD TAKEN A LEADING
ROLE IN THE CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS. A SMALL CO-ORDINATING TEAM COMPRISING THE DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRY/LAZARDS/GEC HAD LIAISED
AND DEVELOPED PROPOSALS. THIS TEAM, IN RESPECT OF THE GOVERNMENT INTEREST IN TURN WORKED TO LIPPITT, WHO REPORTED TO THE MINISTER
OF STATE, ALAN WILLIAMS:
GEC WERE SELECTED AS THE LEAD CONTRACTOR BECAUSE THEY HAD PROVIDED TWO EARLIER POWER STATIONS TO CLP/EXXON WHICH WERE
WORKING SUCCESSFULLY AND BECAUSE THEY HAD ALREADY PREPARED
EXTENSIVE TECHNICAL PROPOSALS FOR THE NEW POWER STATION:
IN SEPTEMBER DETAILED PROPOSALS WERE PUT TO CLP/EXXON IN HONG
KONG BY THE DEPARTMENT WHICH PREVIOUSLY HAD ARRANGED FOR A
REVIEW OF THE PRICES BY AN INDEPENDENT ORGANISATION TO SATISFY.
ITSELF THAT THE PRICES WERE INTERNATIONALLY COMPETITIVE. THE. PACKAGE INCORPORATED TWO UNIQUE PROPOSALS. FIRST, THE POSSIBILITY OF BUYER CREDIT IN HONG KONG DOLLARS AS DEVELOPED BY LAZARDS WITH ECGD. IF CLP/EXXON PREFERRED, BUYER CREDIT IN US DOLLARS WOULD BE PROVIDED. SECONDLY, THE OFFER OF TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FROM BEI/CEGB WHICH SHOULD BE ESPECIALLY USEFUL AS THIS WOULD BE THE FIRST DUAL FIRED POWER STATION BUILT BY THIS CUSTOMER AND THE CEG3 HAVE EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE IN THIS FIELD:
THE DEPARTMENT HAD HEADED UP THE NEGOTIATIONS IN HONG KONG. FOUR VISITS HAD BEEN MADE BY THE DEPARTMENT IN RECENT MONTHS, AT TIMES WITH A TEAM OF 15-16 EXECUTIVES FROM CONTRACTORS, LAZARDS, ECGO AND BEI/CEGB, THE CONTRACTORS HAD ANSWERED MORE