- 4-
I trust ThisH provided long spoons for Supper with cove there characters
1
manufacturing units.
Land was cheap in Macao and labour costs were low and steady and certainly below the level in Hong Kong. Tourism had looked very promising at one time though the number of people staying overnight had been reduced by the jetfoil service and also by tourist agencies who now combine a visit to Macao with a visit to China (half a day in each and then back to Hong Kong). He said he thought the low level of British business involvement in Macao stemmed from the proximity of Hong Kong where the British were more comfortable because they understood the legal system and had no language problem. He mentioned that Matchbox toys were being manufactured in Macao as a result of the acquisition of the British company by a local concern. The company also had an interest in the United States. Mr Ho said he was quite confident about the future of Macao but there would have to be changes to the legal system before the handover to China. For one thing there was no appeal court. At the moment appeals were referred to Lisbon; there was no wish to have appeals referred to Peking. Mr Ho suggested that on a future visit I should meet Peter Pan, Chairman of the Manufacturers' Association, and Victor Ung, President of the Import/Export Association. He said that if I gave him some notice he would organise this over lunch.
8.
One of the guests at the dinner my wife and I gave on 4 June was Matt Macmillan, a Professor at the University of East Asia. He said there were now about 10 British academics on the staff of the University. He suggested that I should pay a formal call on the Rector on my next visit and then he would introduce me to the rest of the staff. There was some discussion at the dinner about the Ho family. The general concensus was that they had been good for Macao and had given away or invested a considerable amount. Stanley's sister is a Professor at the University of East Asia and well respected. John's wife has arthritis and finds it difficult to move
Apparently
around. [Our other guests at dinner were Father Lancelot, Mr and Mrs Curry, Mr and Mrs Blair Littlejohn (Standard Chartered Bank) and Mr and Mrs Thomas].
9. We called at the old Protestant Cemetary which was in very good order. I copied the historical note that hangs on the door of the Chapel so that a new one can be typed on blue crested paper. I tried to contact the Priest in charge of the Morrison Chapel but he was in Hong Kong. Apparently his name is Tam; he is at St Marks School and his telephone number is 75409 or 82464.
10. I called at the Economics Department to talk about trade. The latest statistics they had were for 1984. These showed the total imports into Macao were the equivalent of £567 million. Of these, British sales amounted to about £ll million (2%) mostly mineral fuels and bitumous substances. The total was a shade less than 1983. I looked at the figures for West Germany.
They sold the equivalent of £8 million worth of goods; 172% more than in 1983. Macao buys most of its goods from Hong Kong and
CODE 18-77
AWO Ltd.
7/84
/China.