CONFIDENTIAL
B
Extract from record of meeting between Chief
Minister and Mr Maude 25 January 1990
-
Correspondence on Gibraltar's powers to
grant right of residence
CFCO telno 163 to Gibraltar
A
B
C
1.
At the beginning of the year the Chief Minister raised the subject with Mr Maude of attracting entrepreneurs and investment to Gibraltar from Hong Kong. Mr Maude made clear
that HMG welcomes schemes which have a similar aim to the British Nationality (Hong Kong) Act in encouraging people to remain in Hong Kong by giving them the assurance of right of entry/abode elsewhere. The Chief Minister accepted this and asked if it would be possible to include Gibraltar in the Bill which was about to be introduced to Parliament at that time. This would have further complicated the already complex legislation and in any case, there appeared to be ample scope to introduce a scheme for Hong Kong people under the existing Immigration Rules of Gibraltar. The Chief Minister has since confirmed that there is no difficulty in Gibraltar granting permits under their own Immigration
Control Ordinance. Mr Garel-Jones reminded Bossano of the
purpose of our nationality scheme when they meet on 11 September, and undertook to consider in that light the proposal to offer right of residence in Gibraltar to 2000
Hong Kong people in exchange for some £20m investment in a land reclamation project.
We would have no objection in principle to settlement in exchange for investment, many countries, including the UK, have business migrant schemes; we would also not wish to
2.
MTHARV/2
CONFIDENTIAL