TNAG-0423-FCO40-469-Construction-of-an-underground-railway-system-in-Hong-Kong-1973 — Page 57

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to expand on how this round went, or on the next immediate steps: I understand that Ken Cotterill will be doing so and I have discussed it with him. But I believe he will advise that the British Group should put in some further proposals on the contract arrangements before the Steering Group finalise their report to Exco, i.e. within the next ten days (I understand that Hugo Kindersley may be working on this with a view to writing direct to Philip Haddon-Cave, but in my view we should discourage any more private lines and should use the formal channel via Hutchisons to put in any proposals). Ken Cotterill may also be suggesting that if there are any active special private lines to the top of the British Group or to the Governor they should be used to ensure that we are not only still in the field after the Exco meeting, but are in it with at least a real evens chance.

7. Assuming that the decision is for a package (and I think that is virtually assured now) and that we are one of the Groups with which there will be (hard) bargaining negotiations there will be much leg work and crystal gazing to be done by the local representatives between the end of July (Exco decision) and 1 October, the target date for signing a letter of intent.

But

8. If the Group's representatives at this end - and hitherto I have regarded myself as being part of them as an extension of the Whitehall interest - are to continue to assist on this, we shall need greatly to improve the cross flow of information within London and from London to the "outpost" here. We have been discussing this with members of the Group and with Ken Cotterill of E.C.G.D., and I hope that it will produce some improvement. the first question to be asked and resolved is how far you wish to keep us informed anyway, or whether we are nearing the point at which some hitherto unrevealed but periodically half hinted at aces are to be played which will render otiose the ordinary processes of commercial negotiation and the labour of trying to read the client's mind and the opposition's tactics.

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Yours

Tom

T.W. Aston

Senior British Trade Commissioner

F. Glaves-Smith Esq.,

Overseas Project Group,

Department of Trade and Industry

CONFIDENTIAL

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