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7.
My time was not spent entirely in meetings. I managed to
go and look at some of Gibraltar's development projects
guided by Michael Feetham the Minister for Trade and Industry.
It is difficult not to be impressed by the land reclamation
projects and the construction work already underway.
Michael Feetham is enthusiastic and dynamic. Unfortunately
the bullish line which he and Bossano take is not shared by
the Chamber of Commerce. They maintain that companies are not
flocking to invest in Gibraltar as Bossano would have us
believe and indeed cited examples of companies which after
showing initial interest in investing in Gibraltar had decided
to withdraw. They consider that Gibraltar will not take off
as a financial centre without a new airport. I encouraged
them to voice these concerns to Bossano, They are also
worried about the bad press which Gibraltar is receiving as a
money laundering centre which is obviously very damaging to
Gibraltar's reputation. They are convinced that the
authorities in Madrid are responsible for spreading such
rumours. I think there may be an element of truth in this.
8.
All in all I think this was a useful visit. I am more
than ever convinced that we must get Bossano involved in the
Brussels process but we are going to have to ensure that if we
do succeed in this, Spain will play ball too. One thing which
I hope I may have achieved from this visit is to get a public
debate going on the Brussels process and the Airport
Agreement. The line which I took in all my meetings and with
CONFIDENTIAL