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MDLIAN 391
5. THREE POINTS I HOPE EMERGE FROM MIPT. ONE, THE SHEER SIZE OF THE CONTRACTS TO BE AWARDED. TWO, THE SHORTNESS OF TIME BEFORE MOST ARE LET. AND THREE, THE VERY STRONG POSITION OF THE JAPANESE IN ALMOST EVERY ONE. THE LATTER SHOULD WORRY US. SIR FRANK LAMPL, CHAIRMAN OF BOVIS, TOLD ME LAST WEEK HE THOUGHT JAPANESE FIRMS WOULD PROBABLY WIN CONTRACTS TO A VALUE OF POUNDS 6 7 BILLION IN THIS PROJECT. MANY HERE REGARD THE ALL JAPANESE GROUP AS THE FRONT RUNNERS FOR THE MAIN BRIDGE CONTACT. AS INDICATED IN MIPT (PARA 4) THEY ARE STRONGLY REPRESENTED IN ALL SIX PRE-QUALIFYING GROUPS FOR THE PLATFORM SO CANNOT LOSE THERE, AND (PARA 8) LOOK
LIKE MOUNTING A MAJOR EFFORT TO WIN THE RAILWAY CONTRACTS.
6. THE BEST BRITISH CHANCES FOR SUCCESS, IT SEEMS TO ME, ARE TRAFALGAR HOUSE/COSTAIN FOR THE MAIN BRIDGE, EITHER COSTAIN TRAFALGAR HOUSE OR BALFOUR BEATTY FOR THE SITE PREPARATION, AND GEC ALSTHOM FOR RAILWAY ROLLING STOCK AND M AND E WORK. IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING THAT NEITHER THESE NOR ANY OTHER CAN WIN IF THEIR
BID IS NOT COMPETITIVE. BUT BID EVALUATION IS NOT AN EXACT SCIENCE AND MANY SUBJECTIVE JUDGEMENTS COME INTO IT. MOREOVER, I DOUBT WHETHER THE AWARD OF THESE MEGA CONTRACTS WILL BE TOTALLY FREE OF ALL POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS: I DOUBT FOR EXAMPLE WHETHER THE HKG WOULD WANT ALL OF THE VERY LARGEST TO GO TO ONE COMPANY, AND PERHAPS NOT TO ONE COUNTRY. AND IT SEEMS CLEAR THAT THEY WILL
BE LOOKING FOR MAINLAND CHINESE PARTICIPATION. THUS IT MAY BE
ENOUGH IF BRITISH COMPANIES ARE CLOSE IN THEIR BIDDING WITHOUT NECESSARILY HAVING THE LOWEST BID, BUT IN THAT EVENT ADDITIONAL SUPPORT WILL HELP.
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THERE IS PROBABLY NOTHING DRAMATIC THAT CAN BE DONE, BUT THE FOLLOWING MIGHT HELP:
- WE SHOULD MAKE SURE THAT ALL THE COMPETING BRITISH COMPANIES KNOW THAT WE STAND READY TO HELP BOTH HERE AND IN LONDON. SOME, E.G. MOWLEM, HAVE HAD LITTLE RECENT CONTACT WITH US HERE.
-HMG'S SUPPORT FOR THE BRITISH COMPANIES SHOULD BE IMPRESSED UPON THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT WHENEVER SENIOR MEMBERS OF THE LATTER ARE IN LONDON, AND WHENEVER MINISTERS AND SENIOR OFFICIALS ARE IN HONG KONG. THIS WOULD INCLUDE SEEING AT A MINISTERIAL
LEVEL PEOPLE WHO IN OTHER CIRCUMSTANCES MIGHT NOT ALWAYS RATE SUCH ATTENTION, E.G. IT WAS USEFUL I AM SURE THAT RICHARD ALLEN, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF THE PAA, SAW MINISTERS ON HIS LAST VISIT: IT WILL HELP OUR COMPANIES IF SUCH DOORS ARE ALWAYS OPEN. I HOPE MINISTERIAL VISITS TO HONG KONG OVER THE NEXT SIX TO EIGHT MONTHS
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