Thursday, October 6, 1977
HONG KONG TEXTILES NEGOTIATING TEAR LEAVES FOR BRUGSELS
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The Director of Trede, Mr. Lawrence Mills, and the Assiutant
Director, Mr. T.H. Chau, left Hong Kong this evening for Brussels.
Hr. Hills heads the Hong Kong team which will be negotiating
new textile arrangements covering Hong Kong exports to the EEC from
January 1 next year. The negotiations will start on Tuesday, October
11. Mr. Tran Van Thinh will lead the PEC side.
Shortly before his departure, Mr. Mills said he would not
make any forecast as to the outcome of the negotiations.
E first want to see a detailed statement of the EEC's proposals
before making any comments along those lines," he said.
What I can say is that I am satisfied that we have done all
we can in the Trade Department to prepare for these negotiations, and
I have an excellent teen with me."
Mr. Mills said he looked forward to being joined by the
Director of Trade, Industry and Customs and Chairman of the Textiles
Advisory Board, lir. Devid Jordan, and members of the Board as the talks
progress.
"Mr. Chau and I are leaving one day ahead of the rest of the
team to be briefed on the latest developments by Mr. Claude Burgess,
Hong Kong's minister in Brussels responsible for commercial relations
between Hong Kong and EEC and its member states," Mr. Mills said.
Five other members of the team, including Mr. Justin Yue,
the Assistant Director of Trade responsible for Hong Kong's textile
exports controls and Mr. Clive Brockelbank of the Legal Department
will leave for Brussels tomorrow. Mr. Steuart Webb-Johnson,
/Assistant