CONFIDENTIAL
167414
MDHIAN 8211
LOOKING UNLIKELY: AJC WERE NOT PURSUING THE PROJECT AS VIGOROUSLY AS THEIR MAIN COMPETITORS. HE APPEARS TO BE RIGHT. THIS SHOULD CAUSE US SERIOUS CONCERN. UNTIL 3 MONTHS AGO AJC HAD AN EXCELLENT MAN ON THE GROUND, NURSING THE PROJECT. THEY THEN WITHDREW HIM. UNTIL 6 MONTHS AGO WE WERE GETTING REGULAR VISITS BY SIR GORDON MANZI AND JIM CARLISLE BOTH TAKEN ON BY THE GROUP AFTER RETIREMENT SPECIFICALLY TO PURSUE THIS PROJECT, BUT IT IS NOW A LONG TIME SINCE WE SAW EITHER, AND CLEARLY THEY ARE SPENDING MUCH LESS TIME ON IT THAN BEFORE. I UNDERSTOOD THAT JOHN FLETCHER, THE TRAFALGAR HOUSE'S DIRECTOR WHO HAS SPEARHEADED THE GROUP'S INTERESTS IN THE PROJECT FROM THE BEGINNING MAY NO LONGER BE
ACTIVELY INVOLVED AND THAT ANOTHER DIRECTOR MAY HAVE TAKEN OVER. IF SO HE HAS NOT YET BEEN HERE. BY CONTRAST I UNDERSTAND THAT THEIR TOW MAIN COMPETITORS FOR THE BRIDGES, THE BOUYGUES LED GROUP AND THE ALL-JAPANESE GROUP ARE BEING VERY ACTIVE, AND THAT THE BOUYGUES GROUP PARTICULARLY ARE HAVING REGULAR VERY HIGH
LEVEL MEETINGS HERE TO IMPRESS UPON THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT
THEIR COMMITMENT, THEIR ENTHUSIASM AND THEIR SKILLS. MITSUI ARE ALMOST INVISIBLE HERE. BY CONTRAST C ITOH WHO APPEAR TO BE
LEADING THE ALL-JAPANESE GROUP ARE REGULAR VISITORS.
9. A FURTHER CONCERN IS THAT THE AJC GROUP LOOKS VERY THIN BY COMPARISON WITH ITS MAIN COMPETITORS FOR THE BRIDGES CONTRACT. AFTER THEIR FAILURE TO ATTRACT SIGNIFICANT JAPANESE SUPPORT CA PASS WHICH PERHAPS WE HELPED THEM DROP WHEN WE WERE BARELY PREPARED EVEN TO HINT TO THE JAPANESE THAT THEY WOULD BE MUCH BETTER PLACED TO WIN THESE CONTRACTS IN A BRITISH COLONY IF THEY WERE TO ALIGN THEMSELVES WITH BRITISH PARTNERS (FCO TELNO 452 TO TOKYO OF 17 JULY 1990)) THEN I BELIEVE THEY NEED MORE PARTNERS TO IMPROVE THEIR CHANCES. THE BOUYGUES LED GROUP INCLUDES MAJOR COMPANIES FROM FRANCE, GERMANY, ITALY, THE UNITED STATES AND TAIWAN. THE ALL-JAPANESE GROUP APPEARS TO HAVE JUST ABOUT ALL THE LARGEST JAPANESE CONTRACTORS, FABRICATORS, BRIDGE DESIGNERS ETC. MY TELEGRAM NO. OTTER 47 REPORTED HOPEWELL'S APPROACH THROUGH US TO TRAFALGAR HOUSE PROPOSING THAT THEY MIGHT JOIN FORCES WITH AJC, BUT WE HAVE HAD NO REACTION TO THIS. IT MAY BE TOO LATE FOR MUCH BROADENING OF THEIR GROUP FOR THE BRIDGES CONTRACTS, SINCE THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT MAY WELL NOT ALLOW REALIGNMENT OF COMPANIES NOW THAT PRE-QUALIFICATION IS CLOSED, BUT THEY SHOULD SURELY THINK HARD ABOUT BROADENING THEIR BASE AS THEY TRY TO PRE- QUALIFY FOR THE SITE PREPARATION CONTRACT. IT IS SOME CONSOLATION THAT WIMPEY-NISHIMATSU-MORRISON KNUDSON GROUP, COMPRISING THREE SUCH MAJOR PALYERS FROM THE UK, JAPAN AND THE US, CONSTITUTES NOT ONLY A FORMIDABLE GROUP IN COMMERCIAL TERMS BUT THAT IT IS A
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