G. F. 323
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CONFIDENTIAL #B
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23. Better co-ordination in Hong Kong with more active government participation in the provision of source material seems to me to be a necessary prior requirement of any further development of the services in Europe. Such co-ordination should be aimed at participation in other people's promotions but not interference with the running of them. Shared control of projects is not recommended.
24. Long-term planning is essential to effective co-ordination and this can only result from long-term budgetting. The T.D.C. plan their promotions and budgetary commitments up to three years. ahead. The I.S.D. and the H.K.T.A. should consider bringing their overseas publicity budgets into line with this three-year planning programme. It is realised that this would be an unusual development (particularly for a government department) and that long-term financial projections would be subject to the annual availability of funds, but it would avoid the present last minute, inter-service, ad-hoc arrangements which usually fail through lack of adequate longer term planning.
25. The need for inter-service co-ordination has also been recognised in Britain with the establishment of a committee under the aegis of the Hong Kong Government Office in London. The effectiveness of this machinery should be looked at as part of the survey of the British information scene.
26. No similar co-ordination exists within the services in Continental Europe and it seems highly desirable that some informal machinery be established to enable the principal Government, Trade Development Council and Tourist Association representatives to exchange views and discuss matters of common interest. Possibly a quarterly meeting held alternatively in Brussels and Frankfurt might be the answer.
The importance of the Foreign Correspondent
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27 As will be seen from these comments on co-ordination of services in Hong Kong, the main initiative for any increase in our overseas information effort must begin in Hong Kong. Before turning to the specific problems of Europe there is a further general point about this essential Hong Kong stimulus as a prelude to further effort overseas which must be made.
28.
This concerns the importance of the resident correspondent in Hong Kong who is reporting to his paper or television outlets in Europe. Good resident foreign correspondents are vital to Hong Kong's overseas image and the proper servicing of such correspondents is more important and generally more productive than the issue of official press services direct to overseas journals. Hong Kong has been fortunate for many years in being able to boast a large and active foreign press corps. Generally speaking correspondents who have their home and family in Hong Kong are more sympathetic to the Hong Kong problem in times of stress than is the itinerant corres- pondent who flies in simply to cover a period of trouble. Recently there have been a number of withdrawals from Hong Kong of media
CONFIDENTIAL #
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