CONFIDENTIAL
RAPID MASS TRANSIT PROJECT
9. The Secretary of State led into a brief discussion about this by quoting it as a possible example of a case where the Japanese might attempt to undercut their competitors in order to secure a valuable contract which could be the precursor of a dozen others elsewhere in the world. The British Government was not in a position to lop large percentages off the prices offered by British bidders but it would do all it could to help. The GKN entry into the Franco-German bid was an unexpected development but was not such as to make that an Anglo-French- German bid; there was no British Government support for that grouping.
10.
The Hong Kong government representatives were naturally reticent about their intentions. The tenor of many of their remarks in other parts of the discussion had been that they were obliged to do what was best for Hong Kong and could not be expected to give special preference to British firms. On the other hand the Financial Secretary mentioned that the Government was not adopting the competitive tender precedures normal for public works projects and that the precedures which they were adopting would tend to disadvantage the Japanese approach. The Hong Kong government representatives gave no indication of when a decision on the choice of contractor would be reached.
CONFIDENTIAL
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