RE
MID 406/13
INDLY
-
· 9 NOV 1993
Mr Whittle, OED
плешь ри
Reference.
ра 406/13
faxed to
Mbr whittle,
and Russ Jarvis HG4/1
Mr Smith telephoned to
say he will field.
BRITISH CONSULATE GENERAL BUILDING: BRITISH CHAMBER OF
COMMERCE
1.
53
Now that I have returned from leave, I am anxious to tackle the issue the British Chamber of Commerce's presence in the Consulate General Building in Hong Kong. To summarise, the Hong Kong Government (Mr Sze's letter of 7 October to Mr Ricketts) have told us that there is no option but to resort to applying to HKG for a formal lease modification if we wish to accommodate the BCC in the new building. We will need to consult Mr Hum on this and may need to clear with Ministers too.
2.
Once Mr Sze had set out the Hong Kong position, HKD sought to establish whether the BCC were committed to collocating; no point in pursuing the matter further if they had changed their mind. Mr Cornish's letter of 25 October to Mr Ricketts suggests that the key factor is likely to be the question of costs. I would therefore be grateful for a steer from you on this. I see that you have already done some work on this (your letter of 7 October to Mr Jarvis). I have the following questions:-
(i) It is my understanding that the Chamber is taking 200 square metres rather than the 104 referred to in your letter. If this is the case, grateful if you could recalculate the amount to be charged to the Chamber of Commerce under the formula outlined in your paragraph 2.
(ii) Grateful if you could also show the service charges.
met by
(iii) Does this package include all the elements being/the British Council? (Mr Gunesekera's letter to me of 8 October, Mr Smith's minute of 27 October to me). We must presumably be consistent, although the floor space is of course so much smaller. I am thinking in particular of an element for future upkeep and maintenance costs as well as rates.
(iv) Please can OED brief me on the Treasury angle. Is it up to us how we manage the charges we make to the BCC? Or do we need to gain Treasury approval and if so, what is the process and at what stage must we reveal our hand?
(v) Following on from (iv) grateful if you could set out any objections OED might have to paragraph 3 of Mr Cornish's letter under reference i.e.
fairest arrangement for
min.boc4nov.NAT
JEB
CODE 18-77