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Sir Peter said that a particular area where information gathering by British embassies was important was knowledge of Japanese commercial strategies. Japan was the dominant economic force in the region. But its companies were secretive, risk-averse, and preferred to ride in to new markets on the backs of other exporters. It was essential to know what they were up to. He thought that the Embassy in Tokyo did an excellent job.
6.
Mr Rodgers (ICI) said that a further area where industry looked to HMG for help was trade policy. A successful outcome to the GATT negotiations would be essential to the maintenance of a healthy trading environment. He encouraged HMG to work
to this end. Lord Caithness made reassuring noises.
Industry's Role
7.
There was general agreement that although HMG had an important supportive role to play, it was industry that was primarily responsible for Britain's export performance. Having first lamented the inadequacy of the ATP budget
(para 2 above) Mr Whitehead then insisted that any British company worth its salt could compete successfully regardless of the ATP/ECGD position (though his remark was coloured by Babcock's frustration that progress on several of their projects in China has been affected by the exhaustion of the current ATP budget). Mr Rodgers referred in familiar terms to the importance of British exporters establishing a permanent local presence with local employees and management.
Mr Southwell (BAe) admitted that British companies were not good at putting top quality people in to their foreign offices. There was still a tendency to see regional offices as a sideways move for management staff who would not make it to the top. In contrast, the Japanese factories in the UK were run by top class Japanese management.
Regional Markets
had
8. Lord Limerick thought that Britain was culturally disadvantaged in the region. The Japanese, by carefully avoiding a political role and generous use of aid budgets, overcome the legacy of post Second World War resentment in the region. In contrast, the British were still seen former imperial power and were distrusted. Mr Southwell disagreed. He thought that we had natural cultural affinities with, for example, Thailand which brought commercial benefit
(unfortunately he cited British Telecom as an example). Several guests warned that the region could not be regarded as a unit. Even within ASEAN there were significant disparities: Brunei and Indonesia were barely comparable markets. There was the usual inconclusive discussion about when the
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