TNAG-0422-FCO40-468-Construction-of-an-underground-railway-system-in-Hong-Kong-1973 — Page 52

EXPORT

GUARA

ANTEE

DEPARTM

CREDITS

MENT SO

52

HKK 21/4

EXPORT CREDITS GUARANTEE DEPARTMENT

Aldermanbury House

Aldermanbury

London, E.C.2

9 February 1973

In KERR OIR

ร

From the Secretary

HAH Cortazzi Esq CMG

Minister (Commercial) British Embassy

3100 Massachusetts Avenue NV Washington DC 20008

USA

Jen Flugh,

سلا

In your absence in Houston I mentioned to Tom Sharp on the telephone that Ken Cotterill and I would be arriving in Washington on Wednesday 21 February (BA521 e.t.a. 16.55).

The purpose of our visit is a meeting which OPIC are organising about the best international forum for the discussions etc. of investment insurance matters. Thorp of the UK Treasury and Supply Delegation knows all about this. As OPIC have arranged the meeting, Bradford Mills is arranging our hotel reservations at the Embassy Row Hotel for the nights of the 21 and 22. As part of that programme he has booked us for a meeting starting at 3 o'clock on Thursday, 22 February, in the OPIC office and again in the morning Friday, 22 February. He has also suggested an OPIC dinner on 22 February. We are booked to return on BA522 leaving Washington at 20.00 on Friday, 23 February.

So much for the reason for the visit. The other notable attender will be Mr Ozu who is the current head of the Export Insurance Division of MITI, and he has suggested to me that we use the Washington visit for a private bilateral discussion on matters of mutual interest. We are both looking hard at a very big project in Hong Kong for a mass transit scheme. We have backed a British consortium bid which is by far the biggest effort we have undertaken. The Japanese are likely to bid on similar terms for a matching Japanese consortium. If we compete there is the need to have the right sort of Queensberry rules. If, however, there is a move to fragment in any way by the Hong Kong authorities, there is a need to know how to stand together and indeed whether to come together in certain circumstances. Mr Ozu is quite clearly angling for this last possibility ie. that we should some- how or other divide the project between us.

·

You will appreciate how delicate this all is but I have encouraged him in the idea of a private talk in Washington, knowing that you were there and would I hope lend a hand to give. the facilities for getting together and also of course, ensure that we really understood each other. I should stress that there is

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/no

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