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CONFIDENTIAL
Mr Paul
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НКВ 182/3
FROM:
R J T McLaren
'91
DATE:
3 January 1991
Cc:
Mr Burns
mr.
Mr CCW Adams, PEP,
DTI
Miss Marsden, HKD
HONG KONG AIRPORT PROJECT
1. I lunched today with Sir Gordon Manzie. Nothing startling emerged but the following points may be worth recording.
2. Sir Gordon confirmed that he was now only working one day a week for Anglo Japanese Construction (AJC). He said that the suggestion had come from him. He had not really wanted the executive role which he had carried out over the past year at Trafalgar House's strong request though he had quite enjoyed it. With the dropping of the idea of a pre-emptive bid there was no justification for anything other than a very part-time job.
3.
Sir G Manzie agreed that the prospects for AJC did not look bright in the light of recent developments. With hindsight Mitsui had been the wrong Japanese partner for Trafalgar House and Costain. They had failed to deliver what they had promised in the way of participation by leading Japanese companies. NSC were the key and they were not on board.
4.
Sir Gordon said that Gammon/Costain's failure to win the advanced work contract at Chep Lap Kok was a particular blow. He had the same figures as those quoted in paragraph 2 of BTC Hong Kong telno Otter 004 (and said he had had them for some time). He could not understand why Gammon/Costain, with their strong local connections, could have submitted a bid so out of line with the competition; he was trying to discover the reason. He agreed that there was no way the Hong Kong Government could award contracts to British firms if they were so far from being competitive.
5.
Sir G Manzie thought that the important thing now was for AJC to put in a competitive tender for the main bridge; he was fully satisfied with the quality of their documentation. He hoped that the Hong Kong Government would not pre-qualify too many companies or groups: there were only three which were genuinely capable of doing the job.
NOVABR
CONFIDENTIAL