TNAG-2126-FCO40-3036-Investment-in-Hong-Kong-1990 — Page 168

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

London SW1A 2AH

23

From the Secretary of State

16 February 1990

Hbc

·Misc 121/20

RECEIVA

DESE

INDEX

は

27 MAR 1990

Dear Henm

Thank you for your letter of 10 January about Hong Kong. glad you appreciated my article in the Daily Telegraph.

I am

I was grateful for your comments about the extent of British investment in Hong Kong. I accept that there are different ways of measuring this. The latest statistics published by the Department

of Trade and Industry show that the book value of net direct

investment from the UK into Hong Kong is around £2 billion. But as you rightly point out, such statistics do not include portfolio

investment or investment by many leading companies which are incorporated within Hong Kong. Nor do they take account of the

gross stock market value of British controlled companies.

So you are quite right that the total magnitude of British

commercial involvement in the territory is more impressive than the

net direct investment figure indicates. This is a point worth

emphasising publicly.

I do not agree that the Governor of Hong Kong has belittled the extent of British investment in Hong Kong. I know of no evidence

that he has done so, and I cannot think why he should. His interest - and that of Hong Kong is to encourage investment in the

-

Henry Keswick Esq

/territory