would be equally if not more effective and infinitely less expensive. Any idea that they might be ready to take a decision quickly on the Freeman Fox report was ludicrous. He had just seen a "wholly misleading" report in the Export Times,
iv. Desalination. Here again an early decision was unlikely.
The consultants were busy producing a further report. Mr Haddon Cave believed it would be premature to commit the Colony to a large scale desalination programme,
He was impressed by the views of the Colony's water experts and by the fact that no country had yet had experience of a desali- nation plant on the scale of commercial operation which would be required. He mentioned in passing the unfavourable impression that had been left by Er Rothschild in the course of his discussions on this subject in Hong Kong.
Container port.
Hong Kong had been disappointed at the perforaance of CL. True the firm had been successful in obtaining one of the three berths (they had hoped to get two) but even this had only been possible because the Government had helped them to a degree which verged on favouritiss. CL had been the first to admit that they had no one but theaselves to blame for their failure to do better.
In assisting OCL as they had the Government had taken into account the political undesirability of one country establishing a dominant position in the port development scheme.
Arising out of a reference to our channels of communication, Mr Haddon Cave pointed out that some 40 overseas governments maintained representatives in Hong Kong. While not all of them were commercially active there was a problem for the Government in having to try and treat them all fairly. It was open to our Senior Trade Commissioner to obtain information about the Government's thinking and future developments equally with the others and in many cases he would be in a better position to do 80. As regards information on tenders where UK firas were unsuccessful (a point in which we had expressed interest) the normal practice was to publish details of the successful tender and possibly of the runners-up. Mr Raddon Cave accepted that it would be right to tell unsuccessful firas who might ask the reasons for their failure.
Be assured Mr Haddon Cave that we were not seeking a preference for British firms nor information which he did not feel able to give us. e fully understood the need for British companies to win business on commercial merits. It would be counterproductive for us to encourage industry to undertake projects which the Colony did not went undertaken, still less to go for business on uneconomic teras. Horever so far as the public sector in Hong Kong was concerned we regarded it as part of our job to investigate the reasons for lack of success. Early and reliable information about the Government's thinking and priorities would enable us to encourage UK industry to respond in a way which would help achieve the Governments purpose. Mr Haddon Cave nodded his agreement.
cc Mr Blackwell Hong Kong
CRE2
20 November 1970
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