дов
CONT
CONFIDENTIAL
But there is, of course, a chicken and egg problem here. I incline to doubt whether men of calibre would find any attraction in the sort of work which is at present done on the monetary side in Hong Kong. 20. So I wonder whether the best way into this problem might not be to induce (of course with the backing of the Governor, and hopefully with the support of the Financial Secretary) a single top-flight financial expert to spend six months or preferably a year in Hong Kong as an adviser of some sort. I say "of some sort" because there are obvious problems in defining his role in relation to "the Financial Secretary, and equally obvious problems in presenting his role to an inevitably suspicious private sector. His function, I suppose, would be to immerse himself in local problems so that he could reach an informed judgement on, for example, whether the tentative conclusions I have suggested in (i) - (iii) of paragraph 18 above have any validity within the time span of the next several years. And if so, how he judges that in the very peculiar Hong Kong context might it be appropriate to evolve practices, institutions, and staffing.
21.
The difficulties one sees in the way of even a modest-sounding suggestion like this are indicative of what I suspect to be the much greater difficulties of any more ambitious scheme. I should also add that it is a suggestion which does imply that there is time to follow what can only be a gradual and evolutionary approach. For political reasons, I suspect that it is important that the approval is gradual and evolutionary. Following my visit, I am somewhat more sanguine than I was that the press of events will allow time for such an approach.
9
TIAL
CONFIDENTIAL
#
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.