TNAG-1747-FCO40-2466-Visit-by-Sir-Geoffrey-Howe--Secretary-of-State-for-Foreign-a-1988 — Page 93

FCO40 Hong Kong Department Records 聯邦事務部香港部檔案 All

CONFIDENTIAL

Mr McLaren

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Secretary of State's visit to the Philippines

The Secretary of State was very grateful for your submission of 26 April. He is in general content with the proposals, subject to the following points.

He agrees that the staff meeting should be done on the first day. It would be helpful if dinner could be reasonably early and finish on the early side, since we shall all be pretty tired by then.

Breakfast 28 May: as I suspected, the Secretary of State is rather hesitant about the suggestion that he have a breakfast meeting with Plessey and their clients. Such a meeting would be rather unusual and he is not at all sure how it could be handled. He would prefer to meet the people concerned at a wider function, at which good organisation could ensure that he had the opportunity to talk to them.

He would be content to have breakfast with the US

Ambassador.

As regards the alternative programme suggested for the afternoon of 28 May if other Ministers are not available, he would again not wish to have separate meetings with a series of British companies, but would prefer them all to be included in a single function together. This would probably not be the function at which Plessey and their clients could both be present, since it would not be possible to get the same mix for all other British companies involved. I would think Plessey and their clients would have to be included in the dinner.

The Secretary of State normally prefers not to see EC Ambassadors himself, but to leave this to our own Ambassador. In this case that might be a little difficult if he is to have a separate meeting with the US Ambassador. Subject to time being available, I think he would be prepared to see the EC Ambassadors.

Sunday 29 May. The Secretary of State would like, if possible, to visit Iloilo. There does seem to be a reasonably sufficient British content, particularly if the NEI project

CONFIDENTIAL

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