CODE BA
Mr Archer
Marine Division
HONG KONG REGISTER
Reference.....
ec Miss Lackey, CRE2
Thank you for sending me a copy of your minute of 19 November to Mr Manson. I hope to come to the meeting you have arranged for 28 November.
2
British marine equipment manufacturers have been trying for some time to get a bigger share of the Japanese market bu so far as I know have had little success, Japanese shipowners are seldom willing to specify anything except Japanese equip- ment for their ships; and for ships that are built for foreign owners the Japanese shipbuilder strongly discourages non- Japanese equipment. This is an understandable policy since there is a large Japanese industry on their doorstep which normally delivers on time and can easily be chased up if it shows signs of falling behind. A report from the Embassy in February 1971 mentioned some of the dodges that shipbuilders use to discourage foreign equipment - I do not know whether the situation has changed since then but I doubt if it has changed very much.
3
If we give concessions with regard to the use of Japaness equipment on UK and Hong Kong registered ships, we shall therefore stand to lose a certain amount of trade and it is very desirable that we should consider whether we can get some compensation from Japan. For presentational reasons it is obviously desirable that this should be in the marine equipment field but perhaps we need not rule out other possibilities at this stage. Subject to the views of Miss Lackey, to whom I am copying this minute, I would suggest that the consideration of the compensation problem, which would involve different people from those concerned directly with the question of the Hong Kong Register, might be taken at a separate meeting which could be arranged after your meeting of 28 November in the light of the decisions taken then. The people concerned, in addition to Miss Lackey and myself, would seem to be Exports to Japan Unit of the British Overseas Trade Board and Mr Suich of M Division which is the production authority for a great deal of marine equipment.
HI GUMMER
HU/SBP1
Room 2804 MT
Ezt AB 754
22 November 1973
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