TNAG-2923-FCO40-4198-Visits-and-proposed-visits-by-Alastair-Goodlad--Minister-of--1993 — Page 59

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MR GOODLAD ́S VISIT TO HONG KONG: 11-12 OCTOBER 1993

BRITISH CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Background

1. The British Chamber of Commerce was created by resolution of the British business community in January 1987. In 1990, when the Chamber moved to new premises in Wanchai, HMG made a one-off contribution of £32,000.

2. There is a strong case for building up the Chamber into an authoritative voice to speak up in Hong Kong for British business interests now and beyond 1997. The Chamber has not

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so far been up to this role. But in any case many of the major British companies, including Hong Kong Bank and Shell, have been unwilling to give their unqualified support to the British Chamber and have tended instead to give a much higher priority to the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce (this may have been due to reluctance to be too closely identified as British).

3. The Chamber has recognised the problem. It has set itself a strategic plan for the future, drawn up by William Courtauld. The plan identifies the essential elements for a capable and successful Chamber:- strong membership based on senior representatives from the major UK companies doing business in Hong Kong; provision of services that genuinely meet members' needs; speaking with authority on British business in Hong Kong and lobbying effectively on behalf of British business interests. A new, high calibre Executive Director (Brigadier Christopher Hammerbeck, at present Deputy Commander British Forces, Hong Kong) has been recruited to start work in January 1994 and a fund raising campaign has been launched.

4.

Brigadier Hammerbeck is keen to meet Mr Goodlad but will be out of Hong Kong (in New Zealand) during the Minister's visit.

Inclusion of the Chamber in the Consulate General Building

5.

The Chamber have been invited to occupy 200 sq.m. (out of a total of 19,000) in the Consulate General building. Their moving in depends on (i) squaring their inclusion with HKG and the terms of the Private Treaty Grant (PTG) (ii) securing the agreement of the Chamber to pay rent and running costs and establishing what these costs will be. The Chamber would like to be granted a concessionary rent, we have not encouraged them to build up their hopes. But Brigadier Hammerbeck has recently expressed some reservations about

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