TNAG-2126-FCO40-3036-Investment-in-Hong-Kong-1990 — Page 136

From: Sir David Wilson KCMG

香港 督府

GOVERNMENT HOUSE

HONG KONG

CONFIDENTIAL

7 March 1990

This is felty thin.

fulwe should seek

Meritent's comments and

Mr Maude

oh

Mr McLaren then submit to

Mr Stone

Fele

Mr Morris

√17/3

Some useful material

Hong Kong's Economic Value to the U.K.

here

It

One of the many tasks I have given to our Central Policy Unit has been to research Hong Kong's economic value to the United Kingdom. This would be an important exercise in itself. But I have been particularly keen to do it because of current debate in the UK over the Nationality Package for Hong Kong. is clear that it is not enough, in Parliamentary terms, to talk about British moral obligation to Hong Kong. We need to make it clear on this, and other issues, that there is a direct and major British economic interest in the territory.

The attached paper is the product of the CPU

study. It contains no major surprises, covering as it does Britain's trade relationship with Hong Kong and British investment and economic prospects in the territory. It does, however, attempt to draw together what limited data are available on the subject (the only other recent attempts I can think of are exercises by your predecessor, Reg Holloway, and more recently by the Honour Hong Kong Campaign). It also indicates that a good deal more research could be done in this area.

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