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CONFIDENTIAL
FM BTC HONG KONG
TO PRIORITY F C O
TELNO 242
OF 19092OZ AUGUST 91
CONFIDENTIAL Hß izi
HUB 121/3
TOP COPY Q DIST?
INFO PRIORITY PEKING, HONG KONG, UKREP JLG HONG KONG, DTI
Inston (13
013053
MDLIAN 3677
FOR HKD
(DTI FOR ADAMS, HD/PEP)
Q
YOUR TELNO 1411 TO HONG KONG:
OPPORTUNITIES IN HONG KONG
CONFERENCE ON INVESTMENT
1.
THE FOLLOWING POINTS MIGHT BE CONSIDERED FOR INCLUSION IN THE SECRETARY OF STATE'S SPEECH.
(1)
(II)
BRITAIN'S INVESTMENT IN HONG KONG IS ENORMOUS. THE OFFICIAL FIGURES USUALLY UNDERSTATES THE POSITION BECAUSE THEY TEND TO EXCLUDE GROUPS AND COMPANIES SUCH AS SWIRES, JARDINES, HONG KONG AND SHANGHAI BANK, GAMMON ETC. ALL OF WHICH ARE BRITISH MANAGED, AND EFFECTIVELY CONTROLLED, AND WHICH MAKE MAJOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE U.K.'S INVISIBLE EARNINGS AS WELL AS TO OUR VISIBLE TRADE. THE FIGURE OF POUNDS 20 BILLION IS WIDELY USED AS REPRESENTING THE VALUE OF BRITISH OWNED, MANAGED OR CONTROLLED COMPANIES IN HONG KONG. (THIS IS TO BE CONTRASTED WITH THE LEAGUE TABLES FOR RECENT OVERSEAS INVESTMENT IN (NEXT WORD UNDERLINED) MANUFACTURING IN HONG KONG PUBLISHED BY THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT WHICH USUALLY SHOW US A POOR THIRD TO JAPAN AND THE UNITED STATES. A COMPARABLE LEAGUE TABLE SHOWING (NEXT WORD UNDERLINED) OVERALL INVESTMENT INCLUDING E.G. FINANCIAL SERVICES, CONSULTANCIES, RETAIL TRADE ETC., WOULD CERTAINLY SHOW BRITAIN IN A VERY STRONG POSITION AND POSSIBLY FIRST).
·
THE SPEECH MIGHT ALSO HIGHLIGHT THE QUITE ENORMOUS PROJECT OPPORTUNITIES IN HONG KONG OVER THE NEXT 5 YEARS, SOME OF WHICH E.G POWER GENERATION ARE IN AREAS IN WHICH BRITAIN HAS TRADITIONALLY DONE WELL HERE, AND OTHERS E.G. CONSTRUCTION, IN AREAS WHERE BRITAIN HAS PERFORMED WELL WORLD-WIDE IF LESS WELL RECENTLY IN HONG KONG. THE SPEECH COULD DRAW ATTENTION TO U.K. SUCCESSES IN PROJECTS IN HONG KONG IN THE PAST, AND OUR HOPE THAT COMPANIES WILL
1
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