CONFIDENTIAL
MANAGEMENT IN CONFIDENCE
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great deal of time in my first few weeks to seeking such factual background as is available and it is confused and fragmentary - while concurrently getting to know Hong Kong and the key people. (Not as difficult a process as I had thought 90% of the principal companies we deal with worked in the Gulf during the boom years and a lot of people share a similar background to mine.)
Fry
There is a pressing need for reform of the BTC. It has excellent people but is scruffy, inefficient and has been mis- managed. Moreover, the (mistaken) policy of seeking a high profile has brought our shortcomings to the attention of hundreds of our customers who have been bending my ear for 6 months. No-one doubts the need for immediate change, and I have been at pains to keep in step with the department, the post and incoming Governors, the JLG, Political Adviser and our main business contacts. I have detailed discussions with visitors from the DTI and spent most of yesterday with the new head of the HK Action Committee. We have developed a set of principles to guide us through the next few years and will seek the Minister of Trade's agreement when he is here in two weeks.
My concern is that I am involved in two processes, intertwined here and disassociated in London
6.
(a) designing a building for occupation in 1996; and
which are
(b) setting the objectives, training up the cadre of staff, developing cooperation with the sister organisations (principally British Council, other agencies, General Chamber of Commerce, British Chamber of Commerce and the key companies) so that we are up and running when the building is ready.
7.
The high profile will come then. Meanwhile, there is much work to be done - more difficult, I would suggest, than the building.
8.
I am happy to do this job and feel qualified. The key is proper management, at post and in London. I speak as one of those rare birds in the Service who managed a territory the size of England in his youth, enjoyed running DS posts for 10 years, worked with business for 17 years and studied their methods, and rediscovered hope in the Service when we finally introduced into our system concepts that had been familiar to others for decades. Whatever the pressures from OED and my AUS, I cannot discard that experience nor fail to recall the dreadful mistakes of Government in which I have been an impotent spectator.
MANAGEMENT IN CONFIDENCE