TNAG-1313-FCO40-1688-Future-of-Hong-Kong-views-and-involvement-of-Australia--Cana-1984 — Page 46

OFFICE OF THE COMMONWEALTH SECRETARY-GENERAL

MARLBOROUGH HOUSE PALL MALL LONDON SW1Y 5HX

C.185/8/3

COMMONWEALTH SENIOR OFFICIALS MEETING

BARBADOS, 12-14 DECEMBER 1984

CONFIDENTIAL

19 October, 1984

In my Circular Letter No. 41/84 of 1 June 1984, following consultations with the Government of Barbados, I proposed possible dates for this year's meeting of Commonwealth Senior Officials. In the light of the replies received I am now in a position to confirm that the meeting will be

be held from Wednesday, 12 to Friday, 14 December at Heywoods Beach in Barbados.

This biennial Senior Officials Meeting (inevitably 'SOM') now plays a distinctive role in the process of Commonwealth consultation. Held in the intervening year between Heads of Government Meetings, it is an invaluable opportunity for the most senior public servants to review matters of concern to Commonwealth governments and to initiate preparations for the Heads of Government Meeting the following year. It provides continuity between Heads of Government Meetings, is a unique resource for exploring views at senior levels of government and an important facility for appraising collective Commonwealth programmes.

As the Senior Officials Meeting has become established in the Commonwealth calendar, it has evolved a character of its own. Perhaps to a greater degree than any other Commonwealth meeting, it is an opportunity for reflection more a 'brain storming session than a decision-making process. There are inevitably some matters to be settled mainly in the area of functional co-operation; but, with no compulsion for wide-ranging conclusions, Senior Officials can explore with candour and informality the evolving potential of the Commonwealth in a constantly changing world. They conclude with no communique, yet have a better chance than most of reaching each other's minds. Because of this evolved character and style an SOM is, above all, a meeting of friends. I know that it will be the intention of our Barbados hosts to maintain and strengthen this tradition,

It follows, of course, that it is not the custom for a Senior Officials Meeting to have too structured an agenda. I merely offer the following thoughts as a basis for organising our consultations within the framework of provisional agenda attached.

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CONFIDENTIAL