TNAG-2743-FCO40-3958-Visits-by-Commonwealth-officials--ministers-and-public-figur-1993 — Page 89

CONFIDENTIAL

2

Nature of Links

機密

Remarks

Branch/Agency

4. Civil Service

Branch

Government officers have been nominated to attend the Duke of Edinburgh's Commonwealth Study Conference held every six years, including the latest one held in July 1992.

Hong Kong will automatically be "disqualified" to

participate after 1997.

5. Financial

Services Branch

Financial Secretary's attendance at the Annual Meeting of Commonwealth Finance Ministers.

Non-attendance would suffice to stop the link.

6.

Economic

Services Branch

(a) On the shipping side,

Hong Kong conducts examinations and issues certificates of competency which are recognized by certain Commonwealth countries as

equivalent (or having the same standards) to those issued by them.

(a) As the mutual

acceptance of Hong Kong and certain Commonwealth countries'

certificates of

competency are discretionary in

nature, no useful purpose to continue this link after 1997.

(b)

Hong Kong has

informal

understandings with

some Commonwealth

countries on adopting

a common

interpretation of international safety standards for, and the rendering of mutual assistance in, surveys of ships. These understandings aim at facilitating the implementation of certain international maritime conventions.

(b)

With the

establishment of the Hong Kong shipping register and the authorisation of classification

societies to conduct

surveys of

HK-registered ships, there is now rarely a need for HKG to seek the assistance of other governments in this regard. Such assistance, if required, is now usually requested on

CONFIDENTIAL ##