CO129-622-7 Department of Commerce and Industry- reorganisation and Annual Report 4-4-1949 - 20-2-1950 — Page 38

(2/48) [16] Wt. 19126/754 50m. 7/48 C.N.Ld. 748

54466

50

12

O.

Mr. Morris 15/2 Mr. Sidebotham 16/2 Mr. Gouell Bames 1/2

Suilt Printing

Mr.

Mr..

DRAFT.

LETTER

Your Reference

Permt. U.S. of S.

Parly. U.S. S.

Minister of State

Secretary of State

CONFIDENTIAL

Lettersent. 20/2.

Just

Ansd. (1) on 50.

For Sir Dd. Poynton's sig

C. F. Cobbold, Esq.,

Bank of England,

Threadneedle Street,

E.C.

FURTHER ACTION.

We have been considering for some

time whether, because of the complexity

of its trading problems, it would not be a

The Government of. good thing for thei6overman of Hong Kong

economic

to have an adviser, who would probably be

called an Economic Secretary, on his its

staff. The import and export trade of

the Colony are very large and, although

there are quite a number of important

local industries, its economic health

is based upon its large entrepot trade.

It is a fairly recent development

for Colonies to have economic advisers

appointed to them and several of the

larger Colonies now have such officers

under a variety of titles. The advantage,

of course, is that they then have a man

with considerable theoretical and

practical economic experience, who is not

too much tied down to departmental duties

and can give advice on the broader aspects

of economic policy. The difficulty has

always been to find men of the right

calibre and experience who are willing

/to