Brunei urged to increase private sector participation

Leo Kasim
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

BRUNEI must increase participation of the private sector in its economy by encouraging a “more level playing field” within the economy for state-owned enterprises and private entities, a senior official from the World Trade Organisation (WTO) said.

In her concluding remarks, Mariam Md Salleh, the chairperson of the WTO’s trade policy review body, who is also the Malaysian Ambassador to the WTO, said that Brunei needs to promote a more business-friendly environment for increased private sector involvement in the economy.

She said this during the third trade policy review for Brunei last Tuesday. The country had its second review in 2008 with members calling for increased independence from oil and gas at that time.

According to the WTO, the trade policy reviews are exercises mandated by the organisation in which trade policies of member countries are evaluated at regular intervals with the frequency of review depending on the country’s size.

During the review, she said that members of the WTO encouraged Brunei to reduce remaining restrictions and barriers to foreign direct investment in order to increase private sector participation in the economy which remains limited.

The chairperson added that despite the global economic crisis, macroeconomic indicators for the country remained “sound” with a low inflation rate, strong fiscal position and current account surplus.

However, Brunei was encouraged to accelerate its pace of economic diversification away from hydrocarbons in light of current low global oil prices, she said.

She added that in terms of improvements, members praised the country’s reforms made in areas such as customs procedures and legal frameworks in areas such as business environment, financial services, fisheries and intellectual property.

The chairperson said that members also called for more transparency in sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures such as the halal certificate and establishment of the National Standards Council.

“Member raised a number of questions and requested Brunei Darussalam to make further efforts to enhance transparency and notifications in the elaboration and implementation of technical regulations and SPS measures,” she said.

She also said that the members encouraged Brunei to complete additional legislation on competition, while promoting greater transparency of government decision making on trade policy matters.

 The chairperson said that Brunei was advised to increase foreign investment in agriculture to help meet its self-sufficiency targets and for energy subsidy reforms to “reduce the distortions affecting Brunei’s efforts at diversifying its economy”.

The Sultanate must also complete “additional legislation on competition” and improve the transparency of government decisions on trade policy matters, she added.

In the services sector, the chairperson said, Brunei was encouraged to increase its commitment to the general agreement on trade in services.

The chairperson also said that the tourism, telecoms, construction, finance and transportation industry were highlighted for their particular potential for growth and diversification of the country’s hheconomy.

She added that overall, the review was “positive” with Brunei reducing its average most favoured nation applied tariff from 4.8 per cent in 2007 to 1.7 per cent in 2014 after having liberalised its trade regime.

The chairperson also said that members noted Brunei’s use of trade agreements to deepen its integration into the global economy. Additionally, the country has never used trade remedy measures or has been subjected to WTO trade dispute proceedings, she added.


Sumber - The Brunei Times