TNAG-2661-FCO40-3857-Future-of-Hong-Kong-British-Consulate-General-1992 — Page 63

ANNEX

BTC Support for Business Leaders

1.

At the top level, senior business executives are judged by their success at making the major strategic decisions. What they seek from a DIS trade office are:

a) contacts;

b) inside information and guidance;

c) politico-economic forecasting;

d) a steer on specific or

regional issues (eg the new airport, relations with China,

Japanese strategy).

Naturally, we cannot know about all these issues. But

we can tap the expertise of those who do.

2.

3. Our immediate need is to ensure that the SBTC see copies of telegrams and assessments (eg from the JIC) on matters that affect the business community for example on the state of the Japanese economy, prospects for the GATT, or state of ECGD. (Not the detail only copies of periodic

assessments.) We get good coverage of China and US debate on

MFN status.

4.

Could HKD please keep an eye for us and drop us copies of interesting pieces? I considered proposing that someone in the BTC should aim to build up economic expertise and discussed this with Mr Broadbent, but we considered that this was beyond us. An army of economists work on projections for the Hong Kong economy and all we can do is to tap some of them and produce simple digest for Whitehall and customers. The Hong Kong Government economists are

helpful. But I hope we can keep in touch with FCO economists and be advised by them from time to time.

BE2ABC/1

JRB