TNAG-1768-FCO40-2522-Hong-Kong-and-the-Multilateral-Investment-Guarantee-Agency-(-1988 — Page 21

FCO (Diplomatic Wing)

Mr Penfold, WIAD

Mr Paxman, SED

Mr Paul, Hong Kong Dept

Mr Broad, FID

Mr Peart, SPD

Mr Grainger, Legal Advisers

FCO (ODA)

Miss Robinson, LACPD

Miss Holt, LACPD

Mr White

Mr Warren

}

Mr Mosselmans )

RESTRICTED

HKC 102

RECEIVED IN REGISTRY

29 JUL 1988

Reference

IDG8788/990/101/001B

58

JULY 1988

FROM: W T BIRRELL DATE:

DESK OFFICER

INDEX

EGISTR

See (57) 59

PA

Mw Yo

इ

22/7.

) South Atlantic & Gibraltar Dept

Miss Vowles, Eastern Asia Dept

Mr Kingsmill, Economic & Social Division Mr David, APD

External

Miss Life, HM Treasury

Miss Fleming, Bank of England

Mr Pond, ECGD

Mr Ebsworth, DTI

Mr Gibb, UKDEL, IMF/IBRD Washington

MIGA DEPENDENT TERRITORIES

-

Ratification Background

Mix Elliot

HK certainly want to be designated

as DMC.

I think we shd seek

Mr Wood HK's views for funtable

material. Cd

you pl.

Grateful for a Pratt' a

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tel.

draft minute couring twalkt

рага не para

W217

FCO teino 1953 no HK.

1. Under the terms of the MIGA Convention, territories for whose international relations a member is responsible are covered by the Convention unless the member excludes them. When UK ratified the Convention in April it temporarily excluded some of its dependent territories. In some cases this was because the territory in question had not made up its mind. Thus, territories which were not explicitly excluded were implicitly covered by the Convention. Since then, some of the territories which had not made up their minds at the time of our ratification have done so and three of them have indicated that they wish to be included British Virgin Islands, St Helena and Turks and Caicos Islands. We shall take steps to withdraw their temporary inclusion. Other dependent territories who were implicitly covered by the Convention by our not excluding them were Anguilla, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Hong Kong, Montserrat, and Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Dero Islands.

Developing Member Country Status

2. All 10 dependent territories who have expressed a wish to be covered by the Convention have expressed a wish to receive developing member country status. The benefit of this status is that investments in these countries by investors from other members of MIGA - other than the metropolitan power

other than the metropolitan power - would be eligible in principle for the insurance cover which is MIGA's main function. The absence of such status would give investors from these dependent territories the right to purchase insurance policies for investment in other developing member countries of MIGA (as indeed would developing member country status). Paragraph 1.21 of the Operational Regulations of MIGA states:

"A dependent territory for whose international relations a member is responsible may be designated by the Board as a developing member country for the purposes of Article 14 of the Convention if the member so requests, provided, however that investments of that member in the dependent territory shall be excluded from cover."

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/We ought