TNAG-0425-FCO40-471-Construction-of-an-underground-railway-system-in-Hong-Kong-1973 — Page 148

CONFIDENTIAL

C. What precisely is the strength of the national interest case for offering for part of the business the terms thought appropriate to the whole of the business? Clearly the prestige case must be weaker than for a wholly UK bid. How much is known about the quality and quantity of the business for which GEC are being invited to offer?

4. It would also be helpful to know whether this Anglo- Italian bid would be regarded as carrying the UK's best hope for participation in the project. I have heard mention of an eventual possibility that the Japanese might welcome UK partici- pation.

5. There is one minor point about the credit terms shown in the Annex to your letter. The precise agreement is that repayments should begin on the completion of the first four stages or in 1980, whichever is the earlier, not the more open-ended expression "at the completion of the first four stages".

сс

A O Stuart Esq

G M Lambert Esq D N Royce Esq

Yous

Sunasely

-Jones

Rijhala

(R JONES)

FCO

Bank of England

DTI, Victoria Street

CONFIDENTIAL