§ 33. Mr. Baldwinasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the 1341 terms of the recent 20 year Convention relating to the port of Beira are available to the public; and whether he will give an assurance that the terms of the treaty were discussed with the Minister of Defence before final agreement.
§ The Minister of State (Mr. Younger)The Beira Convention, except for the exchange of letters between the Mozambique and Beira Railway and the Rhodesian Railway, was published as a Command Paper on 29th June last and is available to the public for 6d. As regards the second part of the Question, the Convention relates primarily to the expansion of the existing port facilities at Beira, in order to enable the port to handle the increasing flow of commercial traffic to and from the central African territories. All relevant factors, including strategic aspects, were considered before negotiations were opened.