ritain and might well create prejudice against
the award of contracts to British firms.
ally, I think that in our considera-
tion of this matter we should take into account
the prospects for the Colony over the next
few years.
You have made the point that it
is very difficult to make out a case on grounds
of financial need. I agree that in recent
done
years Hong Kong has зжяя very well.
However,
we have just received the Hong Kong Government's
5-Year Forecast of Revenue and Expenditure,
As the
covering the period 1970/71 to 1974/75.
attached note shows, the Hong Kong Government
are already committed to heavy additional
expenditure both on recurrent and capital
account. There are also other important
projects not yet provided for but for which
the Hong Kong Government will most certainly
have to find funds over the next few years.
The biggest of these is of course the
proposed underground railway, which it is
estimated will cost something between £250
and £300 million.
All these formidable commitments will
be placed upon the Hong Kong Government at a
time when they are facing serious competition
from, in particular, Taiwan, South Korea and
Singapore, in their overseas markets. There
are of already signs that the Volony's
remarkable growth rate in recent years is
slowing down. We are of course doing every-
thing we can to protect Hong Kong's interests
during our negotiations for entry into the EEC; revertheless the odds are that Hong Kong will
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