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Defence Sales
14. GCT asked about defence sales to Malaysia. Mr Goodlad said there was an adverse balance of trade with Malaysia at present. But there were a lot of defence contracts in the pipeline. What about Singaporean defence requirements? GCT said that Singapore regularly looked at defence equipment but rarely bought. Perhaps the UK did not push hard enough. Britain should aim to convince the Singaporean military that the UK equipment was superior. The Deputy High Commissioner said Singapore often chose the cheapest short term option. But this could be expensive in the long term. GCT said that over time Singapore would learn from such mistakes. Britain should not be discouraged. The more bidders the better, that kept final prices down.
as
PS/Mr Goodlad 14 April 1993
CC:
PS/Mr Goodlad Mr Masefield Mr Hewitt, SEAD Mr Ricketts, HKD Mr Davies, FED Mr Charlton, EAU
Mr Donnelly, NPDD
High Commission, Singapore
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