Nationality
23.
Because of concern about the exodus of talented people
from Hong Kong (up to 60,000 departures a year) the
Government felt that special measures had to be devised to
give key people in the public and private sectors of the community the confidence to remain in Hong Kong. These
measures took the form of the British Nationality (Hong
Kong) Act 1990, which came into force on 7 November 1990.
Under this scheme full British citizen passports will be offered to a maximum of 50,000 key personnel (plus spouses and children under 18) both in the public and private
sectors, without the beneficiaries having to leave the
territory and take up residence in Britain to acquire citizenship. The deadline for applications for the first
tranche of passports was 28 February 1991. Over 65,000
applications were received for the 43,250 places available,
an oversubscription of more than 50%. The Hong Kong Government and a Home Office team are processing these
applications now and aim to complete this first tranche
during 1993. The remaining places in the second tranche will be issued near to 1997 in order to provide an opportunity to some other Hong Kong people who will by then
have move into key positions. The nationality scheme has contributed to the restoration of confidence in Hong Kong.
24.
As well as the nationality scheme Britain has also
taken every opportunity to encourage our partners and allies, especially those with close economic and social ties
with Hong Kong, to consider taking similar measures. The
results have been encouraging and some countries, including Singapore, the USA, France, the FRG, Belgium and Luxembourg, have already found ways in which to help.
Inward Investment
25. Guidelines on inward investment from Hong Kong were
instituted in 1985.
Because of our special
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