Coll 30/41 'Co-ordination of Commercial Intelligence: Method of Conducting Correspondence between the Political Resident and the D.O.T. in Visits of the Vice-Consul, Bushire, to Gulf Countries' [‎96r] (191/258)

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KO. 20/387 Of 1933 .
British Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. and Consulate-General.
Bushire, the l8th February,1933•
Subject: Commercial Intelligence Centre at Bushire.
Sir
I have the honour to make the following proposal which I
trust will meet with your approval.
2* The present arrangements for commercial intelligence in
the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. are as follows:-
On the Persian side the Consul at Bandar Abbas, the Vice
Consul, Bushire, (under the immediate superintendence of the
Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in his capacity of Consul-General, Bushire), the
Vice-Consul, Mohammerah, (under the immediate superintendence of
Consul, Ahwaz), deal with the commercial intelligence under the
general superintendence of the Commercial Attachfe to the Legation
at Tehran.
On the Arab side the Political Agents at Kuwait, Bahrain,
and Muscat, deal with commercial matters under the superintenaence
of the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. .
3 . It will be seen therefore that while Doth sides of the
Gulf are adequately dealt with by the various officers concerned, in
spite of the fact that the Gulf is a commercial entity there is no
one office whose business it is to collect and co-ordinate
commercial intelligence for this entity, and to give a picture of
it as a whole .
4 . My proposal briefly is that this co-ordination might be
done at Bushire by the Vice-Consul under the superintendence - for
the Persian side - of the Consul-General, Bushire, and the
Commercial Attach*, and - for the Arabian side - under the super
intendence of the Consul-General in his capacity of Political
Resident. In this way a small but useful commercial intelligence
centre could be established at Bushire. With regard to the Arabian
side. In order to put the proposal into ,effect it would be
necessary for the Vice-Consul to pay brief visits to Kuwait, Bahrain
and Muscat, in order to study commercial conditions on the spot,
where of course he would have the assistance of the local Political
Officers. In this connection the following is an extract from a
despatch No .34 of 3 rd Jun*,193 1 from the late Sir Hugh Biscoe to
the India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. on the subject of the preparation of reports for
the Department of Overseas Trade on the Arab side of the Gulf:-
"On my recent tour I was further enabled through the
courtesy of His Majesty 1 s Minister to take with me Mr.Vice-
Consul Blanch, to whom I am greatly indebted for the com
pilation of the attached memorandum, collection of samples,
etc. He deals with all commercial matters in my office, and
I am confident that if His Majesty 1 s Vice-Consul at Bushire
is enabled to visit the Arab Coast in my company once or
twice a year, it will be of great assistance to myself and
the local officers and ultimately I hope of benefit to British
Trade".