XN000022-1985-01-22 — Page 3

2

TUESDAY, JANUARY 22, 1985

+ECONOMICALLY SEE THE SAME OPPORTUNITIES FOR UK COMPANIES AS FOR THOSE FROM OTHER COUNTRIES, AND I AM GLAD TO SAY THAT OVER THE LAST YEAR TWO OR THREE OF THE UK'S LEADING COMPANIES HAVE TAKEN THE SAME VIEW, SIR EDWARD SAID.

THERE WAS A GROWING TENDENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL COMPANIES TO USE HONG KONG AS A SPRING BOARD TO EXPAND IN THE REGION IN GENERAL AND INTO CHINA IN PARTICULAR. MANY HAD DONE SO WITH GREAT SUCCESS.

+AS CHINA'S MODERNISATION PROGRAMME PROGRESSES, OPPORTUNITIES ABOUND FOR THOSE IN HONG KONG WITH THE ABILITY TO OFFER ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY AND SERVICES APPROPRIATE TO HER NEEDS, SIR EDWARD SAID.

THERE WAS NO REASON WHY UK COMPANIES SHOULD NOT SHARE IN THIS GROWTH IN A MORE SIGNIFICANT WAY THAN AT PRESENT.

THERE WAS, NOW, SIR EDWARD SAID, A FUND OF GOODWILL TOWARDS THE UNITED KINGDOM IN CHINA AND THE REGION GENERALLY.+

SPEAKING OF THE AGREEMENT, SIR EDWARD SAID IT PROVIDED AN ENCOURAGING EXAMPLE OF HOW A COMPLEX INTERNATIONAL ISSUE, WHICH HAD RAISED IMPORTANT AND DEEPLY FELT POINTS OF PRINCIPLE FOR BOTH SIDES, COULD BE TACKLED AND SUCCESSFULLY RESOLVED.

IT WAS IN THE WIDER INTEREST OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY THAT THE AGREEMENT SHOULD SUCCEED, AND THAT HONG KONG SHOULD PROSPER, HE SAID.

+WE IN HONG KONG ARE MUCH ENCOURAGED THAT THE GOVERNMENTS OF THE UNITED STATES, OF THE COUNTRIES OF THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY, OF JAPAN, AND OF OUR OTHER MAJOR TRADING PARTNERS, HAVE RECOGNISED THIS, AND HAVE STATED THEIR SUPPORT FOR THE AGREEMENT, HE SAID.

GIVING A BACKGROUND TO THE NEGOTIATIONS, SIR EDWARD SAID THAT THERE HAD BEEN, AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS DECADE, A GROWING SHADOW OF UNCERTAINTY ABOUT THE FUTURE OF HONG KONG IN 1997.

WHEN HE ARRIVED IN MAY 1982, THE SHORTENING OF THE NEW TERRITORIES LEASE HAD ALREADY BEGUN TO CAUSE ANXIETY AND DOUBTS AMONG THE COMMUNITY AND INVESTORS ALIKE.

+THE BRITISH AND HONG KONG GOVERNMENTS HAD, THEREFORE LITTLE CHOICE ABOUT THE TIMING OF THE NEGOTIATIONS.

+WITH SUCH LARGE ISSUES AT STAKE, WHOSE RESOLUTION WOULD AFFECT THE LIVES OF SO MANY PEOPLE AND THEIR CHILDREN, WE COULD NOT LEAVE THOSE PEOPLE IN DOUBT ABOUT THEIR FUTURE.

+WE COULD NOT SIT BACK AND WATCH BUSINESS CONFIDENCE ERODE AS 1997 GOT CLOSER. AN EARLY START HAD TO BE MADE, AND THAT START HAD TO BE MADE AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL. THE PRIME MINISTER'S VISIT IN SEPTEMBER 1982 PROVIDED THE OPPORTUNITY, THE GOVERNOR SAID.

/OTHER REASONS