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CONFIDENTIAL
FM FCO
TO PRIORITY HONG KONG
TELNO 1062
OF 01140OZ JUNE 90
AND TO PRIORITY UKDEL
OECD
INFO PRIORITY UKREP JLG HONG KONG, PEKING
INDE
176146
MDLOAN 6676
thiB 09d2
-- JUN 1930
OECD MEMBERSHIP
1.
MINISTERS HAVE RECENTLY ASKED WHERE THINGS STAND ON THE CHANCES OF HONG KONG BECOMING A MEMBER OF THE OECD. YOU MAY RECALL THAT WHEN WE LAST LOOKED AT THIS QUESTION IN MID-1988, YOU TOOK THE VIEW THAT CONSIDERATION OF ACTUAL MEMBERSHIP AS OPPOSED TO INFORMAL CONTACTS - WAS SOMETHING TO BE TAKEN IN SLOW TIME. OUR PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT OF THE PROS AND CONS OF DEVELOPING CLOSER LINKS WITH OECD AT THAT TIME WAS CONTAINED IN RICHARDSON'S LETTER OF 1 JULY 1988 TO SIR PIERS JACOBS.
2. SINCE THEN, EVENTS HAVE MOVED ON, NOTABLY IN THE LIGHT OF
- OUR EFFORTS POST-TIANANMEN TO RALLY INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT FOR HONG KONG AND TO FIND NEW WAYS OF STRENGTHENING HONG KONG'S INTERNATIONAL STANDING AND AUTONOMY IN ECONOMIC MATTERS:
-
THE DEVELOPMENT OF INFORMAL CONTACTS BETWEEN HONG KONG AND OECD IN THE CONTEXT OF THE OECD/DAE DIALOGUE, WHICH HAS ALSO SERVED TO DEMONSTRATE TO OTHER OECD MEMBERS THE DEGREE OF OPENNESS OF HONG KONG'S ECONOMY AND THE NEAR IDENTITY OF HONG KONG'S APPROACH TO TRADE AND ECONOMIC OROBLEMS WITH THE OECD VIEWPOINT.
3.
THE QUESTION OF POSSIBLE OECD MEMBERSHIP IS OBVIOUSLY A VERY COMPLEX ISSUE. WHILE THE PRINCIPAL ATTRACTION FROM YOUR POINT OF VIEW IS PRESUMABLY THE ADDITIONAL ANCHOR IT WOULD PROVIDE AFTER 1997, THERE MAY ALSO BE SIGNIFICANT DISADVANTAGES SUCH AS
THE RISK OF HASTENING THE LOSS OF GSP AND THE HEAVY BURDEN WHICH MEMBERSHIP WOULD IMPOSE ON YOUR MANPOWER RESOURCES, IF YOU WERE TO PLAY A FULL PART IN OECD ACTIVITIES.
4.
THE KEY QUESTION, HOWEVER, IS WHETHER MEMBERSHIP COULD BE ACHIEVED.
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CONFIDENTIAL