BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN: Coordinating Minister for Economic Policies and Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Datuk Seri Setia Dr Abdul Manaf Metussin recently attended the 48th Asean Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry (48th AMAF) Meeting in Singapore chaired by Singapore’s Minister of Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu Hai Yien.
According to the 48th AMAF Secretariat, Brunei reaffirmed its commitment to regional food security, resilience and sustainable agriculture during the 48th AMAF meeting, the 26th AMAF Plus Three Meeting and the Asia Pacific Agri-Food Summit.
The Minister also highlighted Brunei’s strategic shifts toward becoming a net exporter of agri-food and aquaculture products through modern agro-technology and enhanced trade partnerships to ensure a more sustainable, inclusive and secure sector.
The 48th AMAF Meeting adopted the AMAF statement and implementation plan for Regenerative and Resilient Agriculture to restore soil health, reducing emissions and scaling up climate-smart agricultural practices, enhanced through partnerships with international bodies including Asian Development Bank, US Asean Business Council and Economic Research Institute for Asean and East Asia.
Brunei fully aligns with this transition by pledging 50,000 trees toward Asean’s One Billion Trees Growing Initiative as part of its national target of 500,000 trees by 2035.
Brunei also reaffirmed its commitment to the Blue Economy under the Resolution and plan of Action on Sustainable Fisheries for Food Security for Region Toward 2030 framework including strengthened biosecurity and traceability for smallholders.
On the bilateral front, the Minister recognised the longstanding cooperation between Brunei and Singapore including advancing the joint Agri-Tech Food Zone and leveraging a recent MoU on Supply Chain Resilience to Ensure the unimpeded flow of goods under the upgraded Asean Trade in Goods Agreement.
The ministerial discussions also strengthened solidarity between Asean and the People’s Republic of China, Japan and Republic of Korea with the 26th AMAF Plus Three Meeting prioritising emergency preparedness, digital innovation and scaled technology adoption.
Ministers commended the Asean Plus Three Emergency Rice Reserve for distributing 15,405 metric tonnes of emergency rice to two million people across the Asean Member states.
On the sidelines of the meetings, the minister also participated as a high level speaker at the Asia-Pacific Agri-food Summit 2026 held in conjunction with Singapore International Agri-Food Week.
In his remarks, the minister underscored the growing economic, geopolitical and climate pressures affecting food systems and the need for Brunei to seize regional opportunities through stronger domestic production and trade connectivity.
He also emphasised that lasting food resilience requires collective action, stronger partnerships, reliable trade and sustained investment in domestic production to turn shared challenges into long-term regional strengths. - Borneo Bulletin/ANN
