TNAG-0834-FCO40-1042-Foreign-and-Commonwealth-Office-seminar-on-the-future-of-Bri-1979 — Page 230

JH Smith Esq CBE

26 Edinburgh Gardens WINDSOR

Berkshire

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

London SW1A 2AH

19 June 1979

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RECE

25 JUN 1979

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PROPOSED SEMINAR ON THE FUTURE OF BRITISH DEPENDENT TERRITORIES

In September this year the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, in conjunction with the Institute of Development Studies at Falmer, Brighton, are organising a seminar to discuss the future of Britain's remaining Dependent Territories. We are hoping to bring together those in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Overseas Development Administration responsible for the adminis- tration of the Dependent Territories, interested academics, and others with relevant knowledge and experience. We shall aim not only to explain the rationale of current policy but also to explore possible alternatives to either independence or a simple continuation of colonial status. We also plan to consider such subjects as the special problems of small island states, and the political and economic systems that are most appropriate to societies of this sort. The seminar will not concern itself with the future of Hong Kong, Gibraltar, Belize or the Falkland Islands, since these are all subject to political considerations outside the scope of a meeting of this nature.

I do not imagine that the seminar will lead to fundamental changes of policy, but I hope that it will produce some new insight and, if nothing else, encourage closer contacts between officials in Whitehall and others interested in the Dependent Territories and

their future.

My reason for writing to you is to ask whether you would be interested in participating in the seminar. We hope to have about 20 to 25 participants, about one-third of them from the official side. Although we have not yet fixed a detailed programme, our plan is to convene at the Institute of Development Studies on the afternoor of Monday, 24 September, and begin the seminar after dinner that evening with a paper describing the present situation. Tuesday, 25 September, will be devoted to working sessions, probably in the form of discussion groups rather than in further formal presentation of papers. We plan to conclude with a round-up session on the morning of Wednesday, 26 September, followed by a final lunch.

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