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P.11
In terms of U.S. perceptions, the prompt remedial actions taken by the Government and the Stock Exchange have been extremely timely and helpful and represent the maximum that could reasonably have been expected at this stage.
10. Recent developments have not significantly affected the attitudes towards Hong Kong of the U.S. business community at large, whose interests in Hong Kong are generally not directly dependent on the state of Hong Kong's financial markets.
11. This situation is unlikely to change, so long as Hong Kong's markets do not suffer further damage (either
institutional or in terms of the Hang Seng index) which is disproportionate to the damage suffered by other markets in the
region.
12. Recent developments have however reinforced the concerns of the U.S financial community, and to some extent also the
These concerns of the legal and academic/thinktank community. three communities are important to Hong Kong not only in themselves, but also as sources of advice and counsel for the U.S. business community as a whole.
a financial 13. Their future attitudes towards Hong Kong as centre will be determined by their judgement of the effectiveness of the actions taken by the Government as a result of recent appointments and current inquiries to establish a management system for Hong Kong's markets which protects their actual and potential interests there; and by the effectiveness with which these measures are presented and promoted here.
14.
These two exercises should not be seen exclusively in damage limitation terms. They also offer an important opportunity to improve Hong Kong's image as a financial centre with U.S audiences, as compared with its image before "Black Monday".
15. In public relations terms, we cannot at present do more than continue our current informational activities, until further substantial remedial government actions are taken in Hong Kong. A further high-level visit from Hong Kong, for example, would serve no useful purpose: in this respect, AG's meetings have achieved what is achievable at this stage,
16.
A high-level visit by FS to the major financial centres would however be extremely useful, as soon as the Government and Stock Exchange have taken further significant measures to deal with the situation. Depending on developments, we may also wish to recommend a visit by SMA to financial centres of secondary importance.
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