Charles to take close look at industry

Press, 16 August 1978, Page 8

Charles to take close look at industry

NZPA-Reuter London Prince Charles is going to take a close personal look at British industry and study ways of halting its decline, industry officials have said. As a first step, the heir to the Throne will attend high-level Government meetings on October 18 and 20 dealing with radar, electronics, and industrial trucks. “Prince Charles wants to involve himself much more closely in the workings of British industry,” an official who has worked on the Prince’s programme said. As probably the most

meticulously prepared “monarch in waiting” in Britain’s history, the Prince has already sampled more activities than most people do in a lifetime. With his thirtieth birthday coming up in November, he has served in all three armed services. He has commanded a minesweeper, passed a commando course, swum under Arctic ice in Canada, and parachuted into the open sea. Aides said they believed the idea of attending the industrial strategy talks was the Prince’s own. The October meetings are being masterminded by Britain’s National Econo-

mic Development Council, a tripartite body linking industry, trade unions, and the Government. It helps map out British industrial strategy. A N.E.D.C. spokesman said that the Prince would also make visits to British industrial companies and study financial institutions. He would take an active part in economic meetings, not just be an observer, industry sources said. But his new interest did not imply he would become a business executive, attending regular meetings. He would study ways of increasing export* 1 checking imports, <fi said.