:
12th March 1992
From: TIM EGGAR, M.P.
HOUSE OF COMMONS
LONDON SWIA OAA Private Secretary 071-219-3544 Constituency Office 081363 - 0653 Messages 071-219-3000
The Rt. Hon. T. Sainsbury, M.P. Minister for Trade,
Department of Trade & Industry, 119 Victoria Street, London, S.W.1.
I enclose a letter that I recently received from Mr. Bourne, the Financial Director of Delta Crompton Cables Ltd., which has a significant plant in my constituency. Recently I had a meeting with the senior managers from Delta who are involved in the Hong Kong contract and they impressed on me their very deep concern about the future of the company should it not succeed in retaining the Hong Kong contract.
I have no doubt that they will be able to compete successfully with any non-subsidised company. However, it is quite clear to them that they are facing competition from South Africa with the South African companies benefitting from very considerable amounts of state aid. They tell me that the South African companies have made no secret of this either within South Africa (Delta have some operating companies in that business in South Africa) or in terms of the presentations that a consortium of South African cablemakers have made to China Light and Power, and the information that China Light and Power have passed on to Delta Crompton.
I would be grateful if, as a matter of urgency, your officials could look into the details to see whether the South African companies are likely to be breaching international trade agreements. I also hope that you can ensure that our Embassy in Pretoria and the Trade Commission in Hong Kong takes this up in appropriate ways.
cont