TNAG-2679-FCO40-3876-British-Trade-Commission--Hong-Kong--and-China-Trade-Unit-re-1993 — Page 117

BRITISH" TRADE QOMM

Reference

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File Note

WINDSHEARING CONTRACT FOR CHEK LAP KOK

I called on Patrick Sham, Director of the Royal Observatory, this morning to discuss the windshearing contract the Met Office are bidding for.

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He confirmed that the Met Office have been short-listed and have submitted a very good bid. But they had competition and the business was by no means in the bag. He was looking forward to meeting Professor Collier and his colleagues from the Met Office next week to discuss some of the technical issues. Mr Sham did however stress on more than one occasion that the Royal Observatory here has had a very close and worthwhile working relationship with the Met Office in the UK for decades indeed at one time Royal Observatory here was seen as an extension of the Met Office, The Met Office is still the first port of

Reading call when the Royal Observatory needs advice. between the lines, I think he was trying to reassure me that the Met Office are very well placed indeed to secure this contract. He did however say that although the Royal His Observatory is not the only client for this contract. colleagues would be making the technical assessment of the short listed bids but Civil Aviation Department (CAD) would have an important input as well.

Patrick Sham explained that this contract was essentially a consultancy service which would involve taking detailed instrumental readings on the ground and from low flying aircraft between now and 1997. The contract for the hardware would be placed later and he thought British companies were less well placed than American and Japanese companies, who seem to have an monopoly on the sort of high tech equipment which was now being used at airports (though Plessey are still very much in the forefront when it comes to control system).

I told Mr Sham that there was very keen interest at the most senior levels in the UK that the Met Office should succeed and that if there was anything we could do to help he should let us know. He thought the position was fairly straightforward still and he did not foresee a difficulty that would require our intervention. But he agreed we should keep in touch. He himself aims to submit his recommendation, cleared by the CAD, to the Central Tender Board in about 3 weeks' time. His understanding is the Central Tender Board will select the successful bidder in the first 10 days of September.

29 July 1993

MRSA

PP J Smith-Laittan

TOTAL P.05