Work together to resolve economic issues, says Brunei economic minister

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, March 5 (Borneo Bulletin/ANN): The pressing issues surrounding the country’s dependence on oil and gas, as well as the need for diversification and to increase export in non-oil and gas products, must be addressed by the current generation.

As such, the Ministry of Finance and Economy has adopted aggressive strategies to bring about positive changes to the country’s economy. How fast the issues can be resolved depends on how all parties work together as one nation.

This was stated by Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office and Minister of Finance and Economy II Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Haji Mohd Amin Liew Abdullah (pic) in his presentation on Brunei Economic Blueprint during the 2nd edition of the Entrepreneurs Dialogue held at the main auditorium of Design and Technology Building.

Organised by the Young Entrepreneurs Association of Brunei (YEAB) in collaboration with DARe (Darussalam Enterprise), the event was a platform for young entrepreneurs to constructively engage with senior officials on matters of the economy and the ecosystem as part of YEAB’s initiative to support the development and growth of entrepreneurs and businesses.

The dialogue, titled ‘Towards a Dynamic and Sustainable Economy’ aimed at engaging entrepreneurs at the recently launched Brunei Economic Blueprint.

The blueprint, launched in January, is set to support the journey towards becoming a dynamic and sustainable economy, through six well-defined aspirations and policy directions including having productive and vibrant businesses that are resilient and able to harness economic opportunities created by the Fourth Industrial Revolution, while simultaneously contributing to economic progress and development.

YEAB President Fatin Arifin said, “Given the important role of businesses to economic progress and development, especially in reaching our Vision 2035 goals, the dialogue today is an important one as part of our aspiration to empower our entrepreneurs to realise that businesses in aggregate are the engine to Brunei’s economic development.

“The Brunei Economic Blueprint puts productive and vibrant businesses as the first aspiration and has clearly laid out our government’s aspirations for our businesses to increase productivity, enhance competitiveness and export. We, hope to continue advocating entrepreneurs to proactively grow resilient, innovative and globally-minded businesses.”

Meanwhile, CEO of DARe Javed Ahmad said the 2020 edition was a good platform for young entrepreneurs to constructively engage with Legislative Council (LegCo) members on matters related to the economy and the business ecosystem.

Meanwhile, Brunei reported one new imported case of Covid-19 on Thursday, bringing the national tally to 188.

According to Brunei's Ministry of Health, Case 188 is a 35-year-old man who arrived in the country from India via Kuala Lumpur on Feb. 19.

The contact tracing for this case is still being conducted, and he is being treated at the National Isolation Center, where the other two active cases are being monitored. All three patients are in stable condition.

With the detection of this latest case, a total of 47 imported cases have been confirmed since the last local infection case on May 6,2020. At present, Brunei has recorded 302 days without Covid-19 local infection cases.

A total of 675 individuals who arrived in the country after traveling abroad are currently undergoing mandatory self-isolation at the monitoring centers provided by the government.

There have been three deaths resulted from Covid-19 in Brunei and 182 patients have recovered. - Borneo Bulletin/ANN