TNAG-0915-FCO40-1126-Inspection-of-British-Trade-Commission--Hong-Kong-1979 — Page 33

18.

b.

C.

to provide information, advice and guidance on all matters affecting air services between UK territory and the country concerned;

to liaise with the Government concerned; and

to report and advise on any other relevant developments affecting civil aviation."

I am sorry that we did not notice the discrepancy at the time.

G

4. As you will appreciate, there is a very considerable difference between providing information, advice, etc. on the one hand and under- taking negotiations on the other. During the time I have been here Graeme Wilson's functions have been concerned almost entirely with the former which of course includes serving as a member of a team involved in negotiations - rather than with conducting the negotiations himself. Such negotiations as he has carried out have been of a relatively minor nature which in other parts of the world, eg South America, have been undertaken by a Principal sent out for a few days from my own staff.

5.

I would not wish to underate the importance of the liaison and reporting function. I would, however, have considerable doubts about Graeme Wilson's claim which your Inspectors reported that the job can be done far better from the cost effectiveness point of view by someone living in the area. Certainly it can be done better, since BCARFE covers a smaller area in greater depth than the corresponding Assistant Secretary at Headquarters. Whether it is more cost effective, however, is open to considerable doubt. Much of BCARFE's information is too detailed and too personal to be of use in our dealings with the countries concerned: and we could dispense with a good deal of his current reporting without a significant reduction in our efficiency. And, on the other side of the equation, the cost is very high. You will have better access to the figures than I; but I imagine that the total cost of BCARFE and his supporting staff, including family, travel, subsistence, entertainment etc, allowances would exceed by a wide margin the cost of, say, an additional Principal at Headquarters (the most that would be required) plus the travel and subsistence costs associated with the necessary visits to the posts concerned from London rather than from Hong Kong.

6. A pointer to this is provided by our experience with a very similar post in the Middle East. Up to 1974 we had an officer with very similar duties in the Middle East, who was stationed in Beirut.

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