Brunei still dependent on neighbours for rice: Finance

Fitri Shahminan
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

BRUNEI has not been able to reduce its importation of rice as domestic production continues to be insufficient to meet the country's needs, said the Minister of Finance II at the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) yesterday.

During the ninth Legislative Council (LegCo) proceeding yesterday, Yang Berhormat Hj Jumat Akim, representing Brunei-Muara District Zone 4, enquired about the progress of the national rice project.

"Following the success of the national rice project, have we been able to reduce rice imports?" the LegCo representative asked.

In response, Minister of Finance II Yang Berhormat Pehin Orang Kaya Laila Setia Dato Seri Setia Hj Abd Rahman Hj Ibrahim explained that Brunei's domestic rice production was not enough to meet local demands, therefore importation of rice had yet to record a significant reduction.

In ensuring the country's food security, the government is also stockpiling, which has prevented the Sultanate from reducing importation of the commodity, the minister said.

"That is why we (Brunei) are still importing (rice) and the reduction is not significant," he said.

Meanwhile, Yang Berhormat Hj Mohd Shafiee Hj Ahmad, representative of Belait district's Zone I, sought clarification on the role of the Supply and State Stores (SSS) in rice importation.

The Minister of Finance II said the purchase of imported rice is not the responsibility of the SSS but rather the Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources (MIPR).

In response to queries on a joint venture company in Thailand, the minister said that the firm operates a trading company that imports rice from the neighbouring country.

"So this joint venture is still ongoing with certain contracts involving the importation of rice from Thailand to Brunei. At the same time, we are also importing from other sources such as Vietnam, and are currently negotiating with Cambodia as part of our effort to diversify our sources of imported rice as we have not yet reached 100 per cent self sufficiency in rice, only several per cent at the moment," he said.

YB Pehin Dato Hj Abd Rahman added that the importation of the staple has carefully been chosen to ensure its suitability to local taste.

During the seventh session of the LegCo meeting in 2011, MIPR Minister Yang Berhormat Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Utama Dato Seri Setia Hj Yahya Begawan Mudim Dato Paduka Hj Bakar disclosed that the Sultanate missed its 2010 target of producing 20 per cent of its own rice needs.

The Department of Agriculture and Agrifood had also set its mid-term target of 18,000 metric tonnes, or 60 per cent self-sufficiency by 2015. In 2007, the local rice production was only 3.12 per cent of the country's needs.

YB Pehin Dato Hj Yahya said that domestic rice production had increased by 30 per cent from 2010 to 2011.

With a domestic consumption of about 30,000 metric tonnes, the rice production contributed to about four per cent of the total domestic consumption.

"Rice production in 2010 was of course lower than what was hoped. We hoped for 20 per cent that day, so it is less than 20 per cent," Pehin Dato Hj Yahya informed the 2011 LegCo session.

"We knew it from the beginning that it was a tall order," the minister later told The Brunei Times in an interview.

"However, achieving the target was never the ministry's primary objective. Instead, 20 per cent was just a driving force to push the farmers to achieve more. That is what we wanted," explained the minister, insisting that the "end-product is for everyone to get interested".

Dipetik dari - The Brunei Times