Study public criticisms to improve policies, government told

Senior UTB Lecturer Dr Nor Zainah Siau (R) and Dr Hj Hambali Hj Jaili from
Seri Begawan Religious Teachers University College at the Knowledge Convention

Khai Zem Mat Sani
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

THE government needs to study constructive public criticisms posted on social media to improve policies, a senior Universiti Teknologi Brunei (UTB) lecturer said.

Dr Nor Zainah Siau said constructive criticisms from members of the public should be seen in a positive way to improve government policies.

“Matters conveyed on social media allow the government to look back or review government policies as long as the source or information is verified.

“After verification, government agencies may then be able to resolve problems,” she said during a panel discussion at the Knowledge Convention 2016.

Dr Nor Zainah Siau was responding to an audience member’s question on how should the government handle netizens who use online platforms to criticise the government.

The senior lecturer at UTB’s School of Computing and Informatics said it is not easy to monitor and control how netizens use social media.

“We don’t have control over texts and messages being circulated on social media, be it positive or negative.

“Individuals and organisations do not have control over people posting messages or tweets that insult people or with the use of vulgar language,” she added.

Prior to the question and answer session, Dr Nor Zainah spoke about the benefits and drawbacks of social media on the society.

She said with the availability of social media, it helps the society to express or share their opinion on important issues with other people.

However, the use of social media also leads to the use of “broken language” among youth as they tend to use shortcuts in text messages on social media, said Dr Nor Zainah.

“Despite social media’s drawback on language use, it helps people to access information easily and this indirectly helps them to gain knowledge,” added the speaker.

The discussion yesterday afternoon also featured two presentations on ‘Syariah and Techology’ and ‘Driver’s Negative Behaviour on the Road’ by Dr Hjh Noor Hira Hj Noor Kaseh and Dr Hj Hambali Hj Jaili respectively from Seri Begawan Religious Teachers University College.


Sumber - The Brunei Times

TITAH KEBAWAH DYMM DI PERASMIAN MAJLIS ILMU 2016

Titah Kebawah Duli Yang Maha Mulia Paduka Seri Baginda Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah Ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar 'Ali Saifuddien Sa'adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan Dan Yang Di-Pertuan Negara Brunei Darussalam Di Perasmian Majlis Ilmu 2016 Sempena Hari Ulang Tahun Keputeraan Yang Ke-70 Tahun Pada 23hb Ogos 2016 20hb Zulkaedah 1437 Bertempat Dewan Plenary, Pusat Persidangan Antarabangsa Berakas, Negara Brunei Darussalam.

Assalamu’alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh
Bismillaahir Rahmaanir Raheem, Alhamdulillah  Rabbil ‘Alameen, Wabihiee Nasta’eenu ‘Alaa Umuuriddunya Wadden, Wassalaatu’ Wassalaamu ‘Ala Asyarafil Mursaleen, Sayyidina Muhammaddin, Wa’alaa Aalihee Wasahbihee Ajma’een, Waba’du.

Beta bersyukur ke hadrat Allah Subhanahu Wata’ala kerana dengan limpah kurniaNya jua, dapatlah kita berkumpul pula, pada pagi yang berkat ini di Majlis Ilmu 2016.

Disamping kita digesa untuk meningkatkan iman dan takwa, kita juga disuruh untuk mendalami ilmu pengetahuan sebagai suluh dalam kehidupan.

Allah Subhanahu Wata’ala berfirman dalam surah Al-Mujadalah, ayat sebelas tafsirnya : “Allah akan meninggikan orang-orang yang beriman diantara kamu dan orang-orang yang diberi ilmu pengetahuan (dengan) beberapa darjat”.

Ilmu itu diibaratkan sebagai pelita, untuk dimanfaatkan pada saat manusia berhadapan dengan pelbagai cabaran. Sejauh mana ilmu itu diperolehi, sejauh itulah ia akan berperanan.

Beta sangat gembira, kerana perhimpunan para intelek dan cendekiawan, terus disemarakkan di negara ini. Landasan ini amatlah penting, untuk kita dapat mengupas dan mendalami apa-apa yang ada kaitan dengan pembangunan bangsa.

Pada tahun ini, Majlis Ilmu memaparkan satu tema yang cukup mencabar, berbunyi : “Menjana Perhubungan Berkat dan Selamat Pemankin Kesejahteraan Ummah”.

Tema ini cukup ‘relevan’ untuk melebarkan perbahasan mengenai peranan perhubungan dalam pembangunan bangsa dan negara, apatah lagi dunia sekarang sudah dibungkus oleh istilah globalisasi tanpa sempadan.

Dari dimensi duniawi dan ukhrawi, kita telah dipandu untuk menjaga hubungan dengan Allah dan juga hubungan kita sesama manusia sendiri.

Hubungan dengan Allah berpaksikan iman, takwa dan ehsan, dalam makna, setiap amalan baik di dunia ini adalah penghubung untuk mendapatkan keredhaan Allah di akhirat.

Sementara perhubungan sesama manusia pula, ialah dalam konteks pertalian diplomatik, sosial, ekonomi dan sebagainya yang membawa kepada keamanan, kesejahteraan dan faedah bersama.

Sebaliknya, jika tanpa perhubungan, maka sesuatu yang baik dan bermanfaat tidak mungkin untuk diperolehi.

Setiap negara membangun, pasti memerlukan masyarakat dinamik, social mobility  dan ekonomi yang kental lagi kompetitif.

Matlamat ini hanya boleh dicapai dengan adanya sistem perhubungan yang berkesan untuk mengendalikan pelbagai pergerakan, barangan, perkhidmatan dan maklumat.

Dengan berlakunya kelancaran perhubungan, maka sudah barang tentu akan dapat membuka peluang-peluang pasaran, pencarian pekerjaan dan malah ruang perekonomian yang sangat luas.

Sistem perhubungan dan pengangkutan yang cemerlang adalah sejajar dengan kehendak syari’at Islam, untuk memudahkan ummah bertebaran di muka bumi bagi mencari ilmu dan rezeki.

Tidak diragukan lagi, perhubungan yang sihat, berkat dan selamat akan membawa kepada kejayaan dan kesejahteraan. Namun begitu, perlu juga diingat, bahawa ledakan teknologi kini tidak kurang membawa kepelbagaian gaya hidup dikalangan masyarakat sejagat. Ada yang baik dan ada juga yang buruk. Kerana itu, semuanya mesti dilihat dan dikendalikan dengan bijaksana.

Kita sedia memahami, bahawa seluruh dunia kini adalah terkait dengan rangkaian pengangkutan dan ICT canggih. Ia menjamin pengurusan yang cepat dan mudah untuk kemajuan masa depan.

Baru-baru ini Kerajaan Beta telah melancarkan rancangan peningkatan sistem Pengangkutan Awam ke arah mencapai matlamat perkembangan ekonomi.

Penubuhan badan-badan berkuasa iaitu Autoriti Maritim dan Pelabuhan; dan Autoriti Pengangkutan Awam, juga sedang giat diteliti untuk merancang sistem pengangkutan secara berterusan.

Beberapa cabaran sedia menunggu, diantaranya penyediaan prasarana, kesesakan lalu lintas dan penggunaan laluan serta jalan raya yang selamat.

Sejajar dengan tuntutan syari’at dan pendekatan bersepadu semua agensi kerajaan, Beta yakin, Majlis Ilmu pada tahun ini akan dapat menghuraikan dengan jelas istilah Perhubungan Berkat dan Selamat itu, sebagaimana yang diharapkan.  

Sekian, Wabillahit Taufeq Walhidayah,  Wassalamu ‘Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.

2 faktor jejas usaha pelbagai ekonomi

Oleh Sim Y. H.

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, 16 Ogos – Kerajaan Negara Brunei Darussalam menerusi dasar yang kuat, berusaha gigih untuk mempelbagaikan ekonominya bagi mencapai kadar pertumbuhan ekonomi yang tinggi dan mapan serta untuk menerajui ekonomi ke arah Wawasan 2035, kata Menteri Pendidikan Yang Berhormat Pehin Orang Kaya Indera Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Haji Suyoi bin Haji Osman.

Strategi pembangunan visi jangka panjang itu berusaha untuk mencapai beberapa matlamat termasuk mempunyai tenaga kerja yang berkemahiran dan berpendidikan, mempunyai kualiti kehidupan yang tinggi, ekonomi yang mapan dan dinamik dengan pendapatan per kapita yang tinggi dalam kalangan 10 buah negara teratas dalam dunia, kata beliau yang juga Timbalan Pengerusi Autoriti Monetari Brunei Darussalam (AMBD).

Namun begitu, Brunei sedang menghadapi cabaran yang besar dalam mencapai matlamat berkenaan disebabkan oleh dua perkara iaitu secara dalaman, pada 2015, Brunei mengalami defisit perdagangan sebanyak $2 bilion, kadar pengangguran yang tinggi iaitu sebanyak 6.9 peratus dan kadar pertumbuhan ekonomi yang rendah daripada negara-negara ASEAN yang lain.

“Kesemua faktor dalaman ini telah membawa kepada kepelbagaian ekonomi Brunei yang perlahan,” katanya semasa berucap merasmikan Persidangan International Finance and Banking Society (IFABS) Asia Brunei 2016 yang berlangsung di Pusat Persidangan Antarabangsa, Berakas, hari ini.

Yang Berhormat Pehin berkata, secara luaran, lebihan minyak dalam pasaran minyak antarabangsa telah menurunkan lagi harga minyak dan Brexit juga telah memberikan kejutan kewangan kecil kepada sektor kewangan Brunei serta menurunkan harapan bagi negara ini untuk menggunakan United Kingdom bagi menembusi pasaran Kesatuan Eropah (EU).

Yang Berhormat Pehin menyampaikan ucapan pada majlis berkenaan

Bagaimanapun, integrasi serantau ASEAN telah meningkatkan peluang bagi Brunei untuk mempelbagaikan ekonominya dari segi pasaran yang lebih besar untuk eksport dan pelaburan-pelaburan negara.

Di samping itu, tambahnya, Brunei juga telah meningkatkan kerjasamanya dengan Bank Pembangunan Islam untuk mengukuhkan lagi sektor perbankan dan kewangan Islamnya.

Semua itu, kata Yang Berhormat Pehin, menunjukkan bahawa kepelbagaian ekonomi negara terletak pada sektor perbankan dan kewangannya supaya ia menjadi sebuah instrumen dan institusi yang kukuh bagi pembangunan masa depan.

Menurutnya lagi, sistem dwi kewangan Brunei merangkumi institusi kewangan konvensional dan Islam yang mempunyai asas aset sebanyak $20.7 bilion pada hujung 2015.

Sistem kewangan negara didominasi oleh institusi perbankan dengan asas aset sebanyak $17 bilion pada 2015, yang merangkumi 82 peratus daripada aset keseluruhan sistem kewangan.

“Sektor perbankan terus berdaya tahan dengan asas aset sebanyak $18.6 bilion pada 2014 dan dengan agregat kadar kecukupan kapital 21.1 peratus pada 2015.”

Yang Berhormat Pehin berkata, secara keseluruhannya petunjuk keteguhan kewangan utama dalam sektor perbankan dapat dikekalkan pada tahap yang sihat di mana kapital yang kukuh dan kadar kecairan yang tinggi bersama-sama pendapatan mapan serta pengurusan risiko kredit yang lebih baik telah memberi kesan kepada mengekalkan kestabilan sistem kewangan.

Pada masa yang sama, pendedahan bank-bank kepada risiko pasaran juga adalah kecil disebabkan portfolio perdagangan yang rendah dan pendedahan minimum kepada risiko pertukaran asing disebabkan oleh aset mata wang asing yang besar.

Menyentuh mengenai persidangan itu, keadaan semasa terutama krisis kewangan global, kata Yang Berhormat Pehin, serta isu kekuatan kewangan telah menjadi tumpuan masyarakat terutama di kalangan institusi pendidikan di mana penyelidikan dan pendidikan berkualiti tinggi terhadap sistem kewangan adalah amat penting dalam matlamat-matlamat dasar.


Sumber - Media Permata

Tension Grows Between Japan and China over Islets

By Todd Crowell

Dress rehearsal for invasion at the Senkaku/Daoyus?

Tokyo has delivered a humiliating public protest to China’s ambassador for the intrusion of a vast “fishing fleet” escorted by a dozen coast guard and other law-enforcement vessels in or near waters of the disputed Senkaku islands, known as the Daioyus to the Chinese.

Such protests are common in the ongoing cat and mouse game in the East and South China Seas, but they are usually delivered in private. In this case Tokyo decided to turn its protest into political theater.

China’s Ambassador to Japan, Cheng Yonghua, was summoned to the foreign ministry, where news and television camera were waiting to film the encounter. Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida kept Cheng waiting for 10 minutes then entered, a stern look on his face, gesturing Cheng to sit down.

“Relations with China are becoming noticeably worse because China is trying to change the status quo,” Kishida lectured Cheng, who looked embarrassed by the media presence. Cheng responded that the Senkaku were Chinese territory and the two nations should “strive to reach a solution.”

Japan has become used to Chinese Coast Guard intrusions into its claimed territorial waters. On the average of once every two weeks, two or three Chinese ships intrude into Senkaku waters. They stay for a couple hours then leave.

But there had been nothing like what happened on Aug. 8 when a flotilla of more than 230 “fishing boats” escorted by up to 13 Chinese Coast Guard and other law enforcement vessels virtually surrounded the Senkaku islands for several days.

It was not immediately clear exactly what message the Chinese were trying to convey, although Tokyo has been very vocal in supporting the Philippines in their legal action against China resulting in the July 11 ruling that confirmed all of Manila’s charges.

Was the latest intrusion a dress rehearsal for war?

The various scenarios for war in the East China Sea, and possibly in the South China Sea, usually fall into two main categories. There is the “accidental” fight scenario. A Chinese destroyer’s radar locks on to a Japanese warship. The captain fires back in self-defense, and the incident spirals out of control.

That is one scenario. Another, possibly more realistic, is the “swarm” scenario: Several hundred “fishing boats” sail from ports in Zhejiang province for the Senkaku, where they overwhelm the Japanese Coast Guard by their sheer numbers.

This time the fishing boats land some 200 or so commandoes disguised as fishermen or “settlers.” The Senkaku are not garrisoned by Japanese troops, so no shots fired. The Chinese side says it is not using force, merely taking possession of what it claims to be its own territory.

Tokyo feels obliged to respond, although the Chinese landing force is too large to dislodge by ordinary policing methods, such as those that have been used in the past when a handful of activists – Chinese and Japanese – tried to land on the disputed islands and plant their flags.

That would put Japan in the position of being the first party to fire shots, possibly landing elements of the Western Infantry Regiment, which was created and trained specifically to recapture islands. Meanwhile, Tokyo hurriedly consults with Washington seeking assurance that it will honor its commitments to defend Japan.

On more than one occasion, including in remarks from President Barack Obama himself, the United States has stated that the Senkaku come under the provisions of the joint security treaty as they are administered by Japan.

In the most recent incident, the estimated 230 Chinese fishing vessels escorted by Chinese law enforcement vessels made no effort to land anyone, though the Japanese Coast Guard shadowing the vessels kept a sharp eye out for any sign of it.

China boasts the world’s largest commercial fishing fleet, but it is a matter of debate among security analysts as to extent to which China’s fishing fleet constitutes a paramilitary force, or as they sometime say, a “maritime militia.” Somehow a swarm of Chinese fishing boats always seem to materialize on cue in disputes in the East and South China Sea.

The use of fishing boats, not to mention the nominally civilian coast guard, tends to blur the distinctions between what is civilian and what is military. In any conflict the Japan and the US would have to deal with ostensibly civilian boats that could flood the battlefield turning it into a confusing melee.

“China’s fishing fleet is being encouraged to fish in disputed waters . . . and are being encouraged to do so for geopolitical as well as commercial reasons,” says Alan Duport, a security analyst at the University of New South Wales.

Swarm tactics have been used often in the South China Sea. Hundreds of boats converged in the Gulf of Tonkin in 2014 in the dispute over the oil drilling rig that the Chinese erected in Vietnam’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

Beijing has dispatched swarms of fishing boats to the Laconia Shoals off the coast of Sarawak to fish in Malaysia’s EEZ, with escorts of coast guard vessels to protect them should Kuala Lumpur try to arrest them. Similar confrontations have taken place in Indonesia’s EEZ.

China has been commissioning new coast guard vessels, either converted navy frigates or purpose-built, cutters at an astonishing rate to the extent that it can now deploy ships in various corners of the contested waters simultaneously.

It is perhaps better that principal actors in the unfolding conflict are civilian vessels. But certainly lurking near by and ready to respond are the warships of the regular Chinese, Japanese, and America navies.


Sumber - Asia Sentinel

Vietnam ‘moves new rocket launchers’ into South China Sea

By Greg Torode

HONG KONG (Reuters) – Vietnam has discreetly fortified several of its islands in the disputed South China Sea with new mobile rocket launchers capable of striking China’s runways and military installations across the vital trade route, according to Western officials.

Diplomats and military officers told Reuters that intelligence shows Hanoi has shipped the launchers from the Vietnamese mainland into position on five bases in the Spratly islands in recent months, a move likely to raise tensions with Beijing.

The launchers have been hidden from aerial surveillance and they have yet to be armed, but could be made operational with rocket artillery rounds within two or three days, according to the three sources.

Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry said the information was “inaccurate”, without elaborating.

Deputy Defense Minister, Senior Lieutenant-General Nguyen Chi Vinh, told Reuters in Singapore in June that Hanoi had no such launchers or weapons ready in the Spratlys but reserved the right to take any such measures.

“It is within our legitimate right to self-defense to move any of our weapons to any area at any time within our sovereign territory,” he said.

The move is designed to counter China’s build-up on its seven reclaimed islands in the Spratlys archipelago. Vietnam’s military strategists fear building runways, radars and other military installations on those holdings have left Vietnam’s southern and island defenses increasingly vulnerable.

Military analysts say it is the most significant defensive move Vietnam has made on its holdings in the South China Sea in decades.

Hanoi wanted to have the launchers in place as it expected tensions to rise in the wake of the landmark international court ruling against China in an arbitration case brought by the Philippines, foreign envoys said.

The ruling last month, stridently rejected by Beijing, found no legal basis to China’s sweeping historic claims to much of the South China Sea.

Vietnam, China and Taiwan claim all of the Spratlys while the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei claim some of the area.

“China has indisputable sovereignty over the Spratly islands and nearby waters,” China’s Foreign Ministry said in a faxed statement on Wednesday. “China resolutely opposes the relevant country illegally occupying parts of China’s Spratly islands and reefs and on these illegally occupied Spratly islands and reefs belonging to China carrying out illegal construction and military deployments.”

The United States is also monitoring developments closely.

“We continue to call on all South China Sea claimants to avoid actions that raise tensions, take practical steps to build confidence, and intensify efforts to find peaceful, diplomatic solutions to disputes,” a State Department official said.

STATE-OF-THE-ART SYSTEM

Foreign officials and military analysts believe the launchers form part of Vietnam’s state-of-art EXTRA rocket artillery system recently acquired from Israel.

EXTRA rounds are highly accurate up to a range of 150 km (93 miles), with different 150 kg (330 lb) warheads that can carry high explosives or bomblets to attack multiple targets simultaneously. Operated with targeting drones, they could strike both ships and land targets.

That puts China’s 3,000-meter runways and installations on Subi, Fiery Cross and Mischief Reef within range of many of Vietnam’s tightly clustered holdings on 21 islands and reefs.

While Vietnam has larger and longer range Russian coastal defense missiles, the EXTRA is considered highly mobile and effective against amphibious landings. It uses compact radars, so does not require a large operational footprint – also suitable for deployment on islets and reefs.

“When Vietnam acquired the EXTRA system, it was always thought that it would be deployed on the Spratlys…it is the perfect weapon for that,” said Siemon Wezeman, a senior arms researcher at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

There is no sign the launchers have been recently test fired or moved.

China took its first Spratlys possessions after a sea battle against Vietnam’s then weak navy in 1988. After the battle, Vietnam said 64 soldiers with little protection were killed as they tried to protect a flag on South Johnson reef – an incident still acutely felt in Hanoi.

In recent years, Vietnam has significantly improved its naval capabilities as part of a broader military modernization, including buying six advanced Kilo submarines from Russia.

Carl Thayer, an expert on Vietnam’s military at the Australian Defence Force Academy, said the deployment showed the seriousness of Vietnam’s determination to militarily deter China as far as possible.

“China’s runways and military installations in the Spratlys are a direct challenge to Vietnam, particularly in their southern waters and skies, and they are showing they are prepared to respond to that threat,” he said. “China is unlikely to see this as purely defensive, and it could mark a new stage of militarization of the Spratlys.”

Trevor Hollingsbee, a former naval intelligence analyst with the British defense ministry, said he believed the deployment also had a political factor, partly undermining the fear created by the prospect of large Chinese bases deep in maritime Southeast Asia.

“It introduces a potential vulnerability where they was none before – it is a sudden new complication in an arena that China was dominating,” he said.


Sumber - Asia Times

Challenges ahead as Brunei strives for economic diversification

Koo Jin Shen
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

DESPITE a recovery in GDP (gross domestic product) at the end of the first quarter this year, Brunei’s road to economic diversification remains a challenging one as some critical areas face a downturn along the way.

At the end of the first quarter of 2016, the country’s GDP at constant prices recorded a growth of 3.2 per cent in comparison to the year before where the economy shrunk by 5.2 per cent.

According to the Department of Economic Planning and Development (JPKE), the growth in GDP was due to increased oil and gas production. In its first quarter report, the oil and gas sector increased by 7.6 per cent at constant prices, following increase in oil production to 135.2 thousand barrels per day, up from 124.5 thousand barrels per day from the first quarter of 2015.

LNG manufacturing had also recorded a growth of some 12 per cent, to 1,037.7 thousand MMBtu over this period.

However at the same time, other areas in the industrial sector had posted negative growth, possibly due to cuts in government spending.

Construction fell by 17.3 per cent and the manufacturing sector outside of oil and gas (including methanol) fell across the board to varying degrees. The services sector had also dropped by 0.7 per cent, notably with concern business services by 9.5 per cent.

This indicates that economic growth is still highly dependent on the energy sector, and while increased production had off-set low prices to a certain degree, analysis from economic bodies such as the World Bank and the IMF believe global oversupply will be a persistent issue, keeping prices low for the foreseeable future.

Therefore, Brunei will need to ensure other economic sectors are developed swiftly so the country’s main economy does not continue to rely on volatile commodity prices. Some of these economic sectors have been long identified, but lacked progress in development over decades.

Now is the time to renew focus and ensure that they receive sustainable and well-thought out development, either in the form of renewed government spending, public-private partnership or direct investment, either from local firms that had accrued wealth over decades of government contracts and largess or from attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) that seek opportunity in the region.

Tourism

The country’s natural resources can help generate income from ecotourism while Islamic tourism and heritage can attract a niche market.

It is also a strong employer, with potential to generate low-skill but important job opportunities for locals in the service industry.

On a positive note, the hotel sector in the first quarter GDP report saw a small growth of 1.8 per cent, though this was after undergoing a contraction of 12.9 per cent in the year before.

At the very least, it indicates a potential for growth.

In a recent report, The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) had forecasted Brunei's tourism sector to grow by 2.5 per cent in 2016, increasing the industry's GDP contribution to $322 million.

In its annual report, the WTTC predicted that the tourism sector will grow on average 7.5 per cent per annum through to 2026 to reach around $710 million or 2.3 per cent of GDP.

The WTTC estimated that tourism in Brunei supported 4,500 jobs directly, making up 8.2 per cent of the country's employment. By 2026, the industry could generate up to 7,000 jobs, equivalent to an increase of four per cent per year.

In another recent report by the Oxford Business Group, eco-tourism and tourism in Islamic heritage are two niche areas which Brunei can capitalise on, noting that Muslim travel market is expected to reach some $200 billion worldwide by 2020.

Logistics

Brunei's location and political stability offers a unique and strategic position to serve as a logistics hub to connect what is known as the East ASEAN Growth Area to the rest of the region.

With the ASEAN Economic Community slowly coming into fruition, the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) on its way to ratification and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) still undergoing negotiations, the region as a whole looks poised to see a lot of cross-border trading as tariff measures are eliminated and non-tariff barriers get whittled away.

While the country has strong potential to act as a gathering point for raw materials and distribution hub for goods through this region, the logistic sector is somewhat underdeveloped. In 2015, the transportation sector contributed less than two per cent to the GDP.

In the first quarter of 2016, the transportation sector as a whole contracted across the board, land by 10.6 per cent, water transport by 27.4 per cent, air by 0.3 per cent and other transportation services by 22.6 per cent.

Changes however are upcoming, with an implementation of a free trade zone that is due to be launched sometime this year and the overall management of the main container port in Muara to be privatised instead of being run by the government.

Industry

In terms of industry, FDIs will play a key role, providing knowledge transfers, job opportunities and investment capital to Brunei.

According to data from the FDI Action and Support (FAST) Center, there are currently 13 ongoing and operating FDI projects in Brunei with a total value of $6.4 billion and providing about 2,194 employment opportunities.

The largest of these is the Hengyi Refinery, a US$4 billion investment from China that is scheduled to be operational in 2019.

Investment in the downstream industry should ensure Brunei continue its oil and gas legacy and expertise, even long after depletion of its own natural resources by importing raw materials (feedstock) from around the world to refine into exportable end-products.

Meanwhile, other FDIs are making use of Brunei's Halal Certificate to try and penetrate the Islamic market in food, medicines and cosmetics.

Simpor Pharma Sdn Bhd is one such entity, a joint investment between Canadian firm Viva Pharmaceutical Inc, private equity fund Aureos (Brunei) Capital Sdn Bhd and a group of local investors. It runs the country's first Pharmaceutical plant, with an emphasis on Halal pharmaceutical products and health supplements.


Sumber - The Brunei Times

Thailand returns to military monarchy

Thailand went to the ballot box yesterday to vote on a new constitution. The results so far seem to favour the change. But whatever the final result, the referendum is unlikely to resolve the country’s political crisis.

Since the shift from absolutist rule to constitutional monarchy and parliamentary government in 1932, the Thai people have developed a taste for democracy, yet they have never managed to entrench it irreversibly at an institutional level. Over the last 84 years Thailand has witnessed 19 constitutions and 13 coup d’états.

Thailand’s military junta, led by Prime Minister General Prayuth Chan-ocha, seized power in 2014 on the pretext of eradicating corruption under the government of Yingluck Shinawatra, just as the previous coup in 2006 did against her brother Thaksin Shinawatra. The referendum is ostensibly a stepping stone on the junta’s roadmap back to democracy.

The real issue, as Patrick Jory explains, is the ‘ongoing uncertainty about the future of the monarchy’, in light of 88-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s poor health. His reign of over 70 years makes him the longest serving monarch in the world and the longest in Thailand’s history. Thailand has undergone a great transformation under Bhumibol from a deeply poor country in the early days of the Cold War to middle-income status. But there is concern among those privy to palace patronage — including the military, bureaucracy, urbanised elite and other royalist supporters centred in Bangkok — about the royal succession after the King is gone. The Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn, while protected by lèse majesté laws at home, has struggled in the age of digital media to preserve his royal image especially during his long sojourns in Germany where tabloid media have exposed his somewhat unroyal activities.

At stake is not just the continuation of the institution of monarchy and the traditions that it represents, but the wealth and the clout that the palace confers upon military, bureaucratic and political elites through its stewardship of the Crown Property Bureau (CPB) and the imprimatur that its blessing gives government. The CPB is estimated to control between US$37 to US$53 billion in assets — across hotels, land, banks and cement companies and the like — and is not required to pay tax. The King is in principle free to spend its income as he likes. While much of this wealth is used on the monarchy’s household expenses, it also funds provincial developments and charity that boost palace prestige. Yet the opaque nature of the CPB and its use makes cries from the military and royal supporters of Shinawatra family corruption ring hollow.

Thaksin, as prime minister from 2001 to 2006, introduced healthcare initiatives, rice subsidies and extended patronage to the poorer areas in Thailand’s rural north and northeast, that helped establish his election winning machine. Thaksin and his successor parties have won every election since 2001. Royalists and the urban elite worried that Thaksin had not only entrenched an electoral system that would keep out forever their favoured Democratic Party but also that his business empire would ultimately establish a patronage network capable of supplanting that of the monarchy.

For all his faults, including blurring the lines between politics, media and business and vigilante justice meted out to drug lords in Thailand’s far south, Thaksin recognised the inequality between urban Bangkok and the poor in the rural north and northeast. With three-quarters of government spending concentrated on Bangkok and surrounding areas which comprise only 17 per cent of Thailand’s 67 million people, Thaksin established a politics that attracted the loyalty of the rural disadvantaged. Yingluck (2011–2014) continued Thaksin’s strategy, focused principally on maintaining party popularity rather than on much needed structural and democratic reforms.

The last time the military government handed power back to a democratically elected government, after the 15 months between September 2006 and January 2008, it did not halt the success of Thaksin’s successor parties (the People’s Power Party under Samak Sundaravej and Somchai Wongsawat, and Pheu Thai Party under Yingluck). This time around the military government appears intent on preventing elected politicians from ever being able to threaten monarchical interests again. If the current referendum fails, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha has said he will simply promulgate another before elections possibly in 2017.

As Pavin Chachavalpongpun explains in our lead essay this week, after the rejection of a previous draft constitution by a military appointed council in September 2015, Prayuth’s government has been at pains to emphasise that the writing of this new constitution ‘has taken place in accordance with the “roadmap to democracy”. They insist that it’s been transparent, open to scrutiny in the public domain and that they have been willing to take on board criticism’.

In reality anyone who speaks out against the draft constitution risks imprisonment. Under Article 44 of the interim constitution General Prayuth wields absolute power, and abuse of lèse majesté laws has skyrocketed in the two years since the military takeover. In spite of these risks, the country’s two main political parties, the Democrats led by Abhisit Vejjajiva and the Puea Thai Party backed by the Shinawatras, have both publicly opposed the draft constitution in a rare moment of agreement between the two rival parties.

Rather than paving the way for a return to democracy, the draft constitution is widely seen as having been designed to ‘allow the military and their royalist backers to oversee Thai politics for the foreseeable future, whatever the outcome of elections’. Its contents, drafted by a palace old hand appointed by the military, will enable the judiciary to intervene in politics, weaken future civilian governments by removing their authority over bureaucratic and military elites, give independent organisations such as the unelected senate and the constitutional court power to stymie the elected government, and provide advantage to autonomous candidates weakening the major political parties. As Chachavalpongpun explains, ‘Future prime ministers will not have to be elected members of parliament, paving the way for old generals to claim the position legitimately’.

The culture of absolutist rule, a winner-takes-all approach to governance and the idea that it is the military’s job to intervene to stop corruption by democratically elected governments continues to haunt Thai politics today. Extrication from this political mess requires that Thailand’s competing networks of patronage retreat under structural democratic reform that enables fair and unfettered participation in national political life for the urban elite and rural farmers alike.


Sumber - East Asia Forum

Google Sparks Outrage by Abolishing Palestine on Maps

Google's decision to wipe Palestine from its map app and portray the occupied territories as Israel sparks online protest campaign.

Journalists and activists have excoriated Google for wiping Palestine completely off its map app, depicting the entire occupied Palestinian territories as part of the state of Israel.

The Palestinian Journalists’ Forum initiated an online campaign to pressure the internet giant to reconsider its stance. The organization accused Google of being “part of the Israeli scheme to establish its name as a legitimate state for generations to come and abolish Palestine once and for all.”

“The move is also designed to falsify history, and geography as well as the Palestinian people’s right to their homeland, and a failed attempt to tamper with the memory of Palestinians and Arabs as well as the world,” the statement continued.

In response, critics on Twitter have used the hashtag #BoycottGoogle to condemn the company. A petition on Change.org urging Google to put Palestine back on the map has garnered 147,402 signatures as of Monday, just shy of its 150,000 goal.

“The omission of Palestine is a grievous insult to the people of Palestine and undermines the efforts of the millions of people who are involved in the campaign to secure Palestinian independence and freedom from Israeli occupation and oppression,” reads the petition.

“Whether intentionally or otherwise, Google is making itself complicit in the Israeli government's ethnic cleansing of Palestine,” it continues.

In 2013, hackers replaced the homepage on Google’s local domain in Palestine with a message calling for the company to remove the name Israel from its map app and replace it with Palestine, arguing that the state of Israel is illegal.

Since the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, which forcibly displaced more than 750,000 Palestinians, Israel has further shrunk Palestinian territories by seizing vast swaths of land. Israel has expanded illegal settlements on tens of thousands of hectares since occupying the West Bank and Gaza in 1967.

The United Nations recognizes the state of Palestine with the status of a non-member observer state.


Sumber - teleSUR English

More than half of zakat recipients mired in debt

Khai Zem Mat Sani
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

MORE than half of zakat (tithe) recipients are mired in debt, said the acting secretary of Brunei Islamic Religious Council (MUIB).

Hj Abdul Aziz Hj Akop said the majority of about 4,000 zakat recipients applied for financial assistance because they could not pay off their debts.

In an interview with The Brunei Times, he said many of the recipients had taken bank loans to purchase cars, houses and pay for wedding costs.

“Half of what the zakat recipients earn from their wages are used to pay off debts,” he added.

Hj Abdul Aziz said the number of people applying for zakat assistance under the poor and destitute category has been increasing over the years, with many of the applicants struggling to repay their loans.

“Loans have become necessary for many people in Brunei. But it will become a burden to people if they cannot afford to repay the loans,” he said.

The acting secretary added that many people who took large amounts of personal loans did not realise that the debts could affect their finances.

“Bruneians need to be more cautious when using their money. People need to know how to differentiate between needs and wants,” Hj Abd Aziz added.

He went on to say that Bruneians must learn to avoid spending on things that are not important for their daily lives.

However, he said the conditions of poor and destitute people are not as serious as in other countries in this region as majority of the recipients can still afford to spend on their daily needs such as sustenance and shelter.

The acting secretary said many of the zakat applicants under the poor and destitute category were low-income earners and their children were unemployed.

He said more than 3,000 dependents rely on the zakat recipients for financial support.

The monthly zakat is given for a period of two years for every applicant.

After two years, the recipient would usually reapply for zakat if their income or finances have yet to improve, said Hj Abd Aziz.

He added that some families stopped receiving tithes as their children have found jobs.

Hj Abd Aziz said those who apply for zakat because of bank loans are not eligible for zakat under Al-Gharimin (individuals who are deep in debt for valid purposes) category.

“People who have loans with banks have made an agreement earlier, it proves that they have money to repay their loans.

“Those who receive zakat under Al-Gharimin are among individuals who borrow money to build mosques or other buildings that benefit the community,” he said.


Sumber - The Brunei Times

ASEAN and China at a crossroads after South China Sea ruling

Author: Sourabh Gupta, ICAS

Almost 30 years to the day that a young, Harvard-trained American lawyer won a famous judgment at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against the United States, Paul S Reichler pulled off another momentous victory at The Hague. This time the judgment was against China for having breached its international treaty obligations in the South China Sea.

Washington refused to honour the 1986 award, citing Managua’s selective application of the law, the highly charged political nature of the case and the ICJ’s overreach in asserting jurisdiction. Later that year, it cast the sole veto against a UN Security Council draft resolution calling for full and immediate compliance with the judgment. China was one of 11 states on the Council to vote in favour.

Beijing now restates each of the accusations made by the defence that day. Yet one hopes that it will set a better example of compliance than Washington. It is also in its enlightened self-interest to do so.

China’s emerging policy approach is one of non-acceptance of the award while supporting escalation control on the ground. This is coupled with an offer to negotiate with the Philippines. The political cost–benefit calculus underlying this policy will gradually but decisively shift against China with each passing month — especially as Manila forces the issue in order to collect the benefits conferred by the award.

Hanoi too stands poised to force claims that it enjoys traditional fishing rights within the territorial sea of the Paracel Islands. It can also claim, pointing to the award, that none of the high-tide features there are fully entitled islands, and that, as a result, the features cannot generate their own exclusive economic zones (EEZs).

China’s favoured ‘dual-track’ approach holds that disputes should be resolved through talks between directly concerned parties, while China and ASEAN countries should jointly pursue stability in the South China Sea. In light of the ruling, China must discreetly implement an ‘early harvest’ set of compliant actions within this ‘dual-track’ framework. These could include allowing re-entry of Filipino traditional fishermen to the territorial sea of the Scarborough Shoal and China withdrawing its paramilitary presence from the Second Thomas Shoal area.

Beijing should also seize this opportunity to clarify the geographic limits of its ‘relevant waters’ claim in the South China Sea and the functional nature of the ‘historic right’ of access that it seeks in these waters.

ASEAN too must brace for the implications of the award, particularly on the security front. The decision to annul all extended maritime claims associated with China’s land features on the Philippines’ continental shelf is effectively an endorsement of a 2009 submission filed by Malaysia and Vietnam to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf. That submission also implied that none of the features in the Spratlys group were capable of generating EEZs or continental shelf rights.

That filing took China by surprise and touched off a protest note featuring the nine-dash line. The Tribunal’s ruling will encounter a similar, if not greater show of resolve by Beijing, both on the table and at sea.

Sovereignty-linked issues of jurisdiction have always been tied to a larger political calculus of stability and good neighbourliness. China’s rulers have not been shy in calibrating their stance between a hardline and a flexible one to suit the strategic circumstances at hand. Should Philippine ‘armed forces’ or ‘public vessels’ provide escort to private efforts to restart oil and gas development on its continental shelf, the United States could be drawn into the line of fire. This would have cascading implications for peace and stability in the South China Sea.

The Tribunal’s award brings into question the call to expeditiously conclude a China–ASEAN ‘Code of Conduct’ (COC). The area of application of the COC’s rules was premised on the existence of unresolved maritime boundary areas of concerned parties in the South China Sea. Having produced a de facto delimitation of the China–Philippines maritime boundary (and furnished principles for the China–Vietnam one too), the Tribunal has effectively undercut the raison d’être that sustains the envisaged code.

Both ASEAN and China would be better off reframing their COC interactions to a trimmed-down dialogue on preventive mechanisms that set and stabilise the rules of engagement and communication for their paramilitaries. Such a code could be framed along the lines of the multinational Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea.

The scope for functional cooperation in the South China Sea has been set back in no uncertain terms. Had Itu Aba been ruled a fully entitled island, it could have facilitated a basis for oil and gas joint development in the overlapping water areas. With no geographic overlap to contend with, China’s principle of ‘shelving differences and seeking joint development’ has become a hollow slogan. There are no differences of entitled rights left to shelve.

The contours of functional cooperation will need to evolve from bilateral actions to subregional activities in cross-cutting areas. Such activities could include environmental protection, maritime search and rescue, and cooperation against piracy and transnational crime.

The arbitration has ripped apart the deliberate ambiguity that has at times helpfully spurred the search for win–win solutions to the region’s overlapping challenges at its peripheries. Yet another Asian frontier has now been transformed, to quote Lord Curzon, into a ‘razor’s edge on which hang suspended the modern issues of war or peace’. The tenuous quiet in the immediate wake of the award will not last.

As China and ASEAN gingerly mould a ‘new normal’ in the South China Sea, they stand at an important crossroads. They can either advocate for exclusivist answers to the challenges in their designated maritime zones — the littoral states’ preference. Or they can throw their weight behind comprehensive and overarching cooperative frameworks — China’s preference — that secure peace and stability. Whatever their chosen path, China and ASEAN must first form an important consensus on this point. Papering over this choice will be harder than papering over the language in their summit communiques. Muddling through is not an option.


Sumber - East Asia Forum

Over 400 children born ‘out of wedlock’

Khai Zem Mat Sani

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

FOUR hundred and five children in Brunei were registered as born out of wedlock from 2013 to 2015, based on records under the Syariah Affairs Department Tutong Branch.

Statistics from the department showed an increase of 40 to 50 cases annually or one case weekly during the same period.

In most cases, the child’s status was revealed to the authority when they applied for passport and identification card (IC), said Norlee Rohaini Md Daud, head of the religious enforcement unit in Tutong.

“There are some who came to us directly and some based on reports from members of the public,” she said. The religious enforcement unit will then conduct investigation to confirm the status of the child.

Brunei-Muara has the highest number of children borne out of wedlock with 217 cases, followed by Belait with 141, Tutong with 23 and Temburong with 24 cases.

Norlee Rohaini said children born out of wedlock happen mainly because of unmonitored socialising between the opposite sex.

She said parents play a crucial role in such cases as lack of supervision or monitoring of their children, letting them go out with anyone freely will result to such difficulty. “Socialisation like this is difficult to be tamed or prevented. Sometimes these children didn’t even go home to their parents until they get pregnant,” she said.

According to the department records, the number of khalwat (close proximity) cases remained high with 197 reported in 2013, 188 cases in 2014 and 168 cases in 2015.

Norlee Rohaini said the popular use of internet and social media like Facebook, WhatApp and Instagram also contributed to the problem as the interaction on these sites are unchecked by parents.

“Sometimes within a short time, they proceed from being strangers to illicit behaviour which can lead to pregnancy,” she said, adding that majority of them only get married after the child is born.

She said pregnancy out of marriage does not only happen among young and single individuals, but also to those who are married.

“There are cases where the wife would be carrying the child of another man other than her husband, and also cases where the husband got another woman pregnant. This happened when they are involved in extramarital affairs,” she said.

Sumber - The Brunei Times

Ekonomi berkembang 3.6 peratus

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, 29 Julai – Walaupun secara keseluruhan ekonomi global mengalami ketidaktentuan dalam beberapa bulan pertama tahun 2016, pada suku pertama tahun ini, ekonomi negara meningkat sebanyak 3.6 peratus tahun-ke-tahun disebabkan peningkatan dalam sektor minyak dan gas sebanyak 7.6 peratus tahun-ke-tahun, manakala bagi sektor bukan minyak dan gas menurun 1.9 peratus tahun-ke-tahun.

Kadar inflasi negara juga dijangka kekal rendah memandangkan harga makanan dan komoditi global yang rendah serta kadar pertukaran dolar Brunei yang stabil.

Autoriti Monetari Brunei Darussalam (AMBD), dalam kenyataan Dasar AMBD bagi separuh tahun pertama 2016 yang dikeluarkan hari ini menekankan perkara itu dan turut menyatakan beberapa perkembangan kewangan di negara ini termasuk pengenalan satu direktif kepada semua bank mengenai penggunaan Minimum Cash Balances (MCB) untuk pengurusan kecairan kewangan harian (intraday liquidity maintenance) di dalam sistem Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS); pemberian lesen perbankan kepada Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited untuk menubuhkan cawangan di Negara Brunei Darussalam; dan proses penutupan operasi Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, cawangan Negara Brunei Darussalam (HSBC Brunei) secara berfasa.

Manakala kredit menunjukkan perkembangan yang positif, di mana ia meningkat sebanyak 8.5 peratus tahun-ke-tahun. Sektor perbankan di negara ini kekal kukuh dengan Regulatory Capital Adequacy Ratio yang tinggi melebihi keperluan minimum. AMBD juga melaksanakan beberapa langkah-langkah di bawah inisiatif Ease of Doing Business, termasuk memeterai satu memorandum persefahaman berbilang hala (MMOU) mengenai perundingan dan kerjasama, dan pertukaran maklumat, yang telah diperkenalkan oleh International Organization of Securities Commissions. AMBD juga sedang melaksanakan audit syariah ke atas institusi-institusi kewangan Islam tempatan.

Antara lain perancangan perkembangan di masa hadapan, AMBD akan mempertingkatkan lagi usaha untuk menyokong reformasi struktur yang bertujuan untuk meningkatkan financial intermediation dan pinjaman kepada sektor korporat. AMBD juga akan melaksanakan satu rangka kerja.

Kenyataan Dasar AMBD 1/2016 yang lengkap boleh didapati di laman web AMBD www.ambd.gov.bn.


Sumber - Media Permata

KDYMM: Pertanian mesti terus diperkasa

Titah Kebawah Duli Yang Maha Mulia Paduka Seri Baginda Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah Ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar 'Ali Saifuddien Sa'adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan Dan Yang Di-Pertuan Negara Brunei Darussalam Sempena Hari Ulang Tahun Keputeraan Baginda Yang Ke-70 Tahun Bagi Tahun 2016 Bertempat Di Istana Nurul Iman.

Assalamu'alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh

Bismillaahir Rahmaanir Raheem. Alhamdulillah  Rabbil 'Alameen, Wabihiee Nasta'eenu 'Alaa Umuuriddunya Wadden, Wassalaatu' Wassalaamu 'Ala Asyarafil Mursaleen, Sayyidina Muhammaddin, Wa'alaa Aalihee Wasahbihee Ajma'een, Waba'du.

Alhamdulillah, beta bersyukur ke hadrat Allah Subhanahu Wata'ala kerana dapat meraikan Hari Keputeraan beta pada tahun ini, dalam keadaan aman lagi selesa.

Istiadat berlangsung pada tahun ini, ketika mana kita baru saja sempurna melaksanakan ibadat puasa dan kini sedang meraikan Hari Raya Aidilfitri yang mubarak.

Beta sekali lagi mengucapkan Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri kepada semua yang meraikannya. Beta berharap kita di negara ini akan mengamalkan sifat berhemah dan sederhana dalam meraikan apa saja sambutan perayaan selaras dengan ajaran ugama kita yang suci.

Melalui istiadat ini, beta dengan ikhlas merakamkan ucapan terima kasih serta penghargaan kepada semua tetamu khas beta yang sudi hadir dan juga kepada semua pihak yang telah menyembahkan perutusan ucap selamat kepada beta serta keluarga bersempena dengan perayaan ini.

Beta mengajak semua rakyat di negara ini supaya sama-sama bersyukur kerana dapat secara berterusan menikmati keamanan dan kesejahteraan. Namun ini bukanlah tiket untuk kita melonggarkan sikap berhati-hati terhadap sebarang kemungkinan yang tidak diingini. Bahkan senario hari ini meminta kita untuk lebih berwaspada lagi.

Turut lebih kita beratkan ialah membangun ekonomi. Brunei tidak boleh leka dalam keadaan ekonomi global dilihat sedang bermasalah. Brunei perlu mempelbagaikan ekonominya sambil terus meningkatkan hasil Keluaran Dalam Negara Kasar (KDNK). Kita perlu lebih aktif serta mempunyai agenda lebih terancang bagi mencapai sasaran ini.

Usaha-usaha peningkatan perlulah  menyeluruh terutama bagi bidang yang dianggap utama, seperti pertanian makanan asasi. Bidang ini mestilah terus diperkasa sehingga mampu untuk kita memenuhi sara diri. Kita tidak boleh selama-lamanya bergantung kepada pihak luar sahaja. Sayugia perkara ini dapat diambil perhatian serius oleh pihak berkenaan dalam kerajaan.

Sudah tiba masanya untuk Brunei mengaktifkan segala usaha tanpa berlengah-lengah lagi. Salah satu contoh ke arah itu, kita sekarang sedang merancang untuk  menggerakkan ekonomi negara, dengan kerajaan mengungkayahkan satu projek  membina sistem pengangkutan yang selamat dan cekap.  Projek ini ialah untuk memanjangkan Dermaga Pelabuhan Muara dan membesarkan terminal kontena Muara. Ia akan menjadi pemudahcara bagi kemasukan dan penarikan pelabur luar asing ke negara ini.

Di samping itu, secara umum kita juga menggalakkan sifat kreatif dan inovatif dalam melaksanakan semua projek pembangunan melalui kaedah Kerjasama Awam Swasta atau Public Private Partnership. Kaedah ini bertujuan sebagai pendorong ke arah  perkongsian di antara sektor awam dan swasta dalam melaksanakan projek-projek kerajaan.

Menyebut lagi permasalahan ekonomi, baru-baru ini, rakyat Britain telah memutuskan untuk keluar dari Kesatuan Eropah atau Brexit. Keputusan ini menimbulkan sedikit gusar di kalangan para pelabur kerana ia dilihat sebagai mampu untuk menjejaskan nilai pelaburan di bursa-bursa saham antarabangsa dan malah juga turut berisiko ke atas nilai mata wang negara berkenaan sendiri. Brunei sebagai negara yang juga terlibat dalam perdagangan antarabangsa tidaklah terkecuali dari turut merasakan kesan keputusan tersebut.

Namun Alhamdulillah, dengan adanya dasar kerajaan melaksanakan pelaburan seimbang, maka risiko tersebut dapat kita tangani secara terurus.

Beta penuh yakin, Kerajaan Britain dan antarabangsa adalah mampu untuk menangani pelbagai isu berpunca dari Brexit tersebut, berdasarkan pengalaman yang luas semua pihak dalam mengatasi semua permasalahan yang ada.

Brunei sendiri akan terus menghargai hubungan dengan United Kingdom, khasnya hubungan perdagangan yang telah berjalan sekian lama itu.  Kita akan tetap mengukuhkan hubungan ini untuk kebaikan bersama  kedua-dua buah negara.

Ke arah peningkatan ekonomi, kerajaan beta juga terus memacu perkembangan pendidikan. Kerana pendidikan juga adalah aset, malah 'kuasa' untuk menentukan kelangsungan bangsa.

Sebab itu kualiti pendidikan, tidaklah ia dapat dikompromi melainkan mesti terus diperkaya dan ditingkatkan. Ini adalah harapan kita kepada Kementerian-Kementerian  Pendidikan dan Hal Ehwal Ugama supaya sama-sama dapat berbincang dan bekerjasama dengan Unit PENGGERAK di Jabatan Perdana Menteri untuk mencari jalan, bagaimana prestasi Pendidikan Rendah dan Menengah khasnya, dapat ditingkatkan. Kerana dalam era mutakhir ini, beta sendiri mendapati masih ada perkara yang perlu diperbaiki.

Selaku tonggak utama Wawasan Brunei 2035, pendidikan tidak boleh berada di bawah, melainkan tempatnya ialah di atas untuk benar-benar diambil berat. Kerana pendidikan adalah pelaburan sepanjang hayat untuk menentukan maju mundurnya sesuatu bangsa.  Jika pendidikan lemah, maka tidak siapapun yang akan memandang tinggi kepada kita.

Di peringkat antarabangsa, negara kita akan terus bekerjasama dengan rakan-rakan  serantau dan antarabangsa dalam menjana pertumbuhan ekonomi dan lain-lain kepentingan melalui rangkaian-rangkaian pemangkin serantau dan antarabangsa.

Demikian juga kita akan sentiasa bersama-sama memainkan peranan dalam hal ehwal keselamatan serantau mahupun antarabangsa, di samping menghulurkan bantuan-bantuan kemanusiaan kepada pihak-pihak yang memerlukan, selaras dengan kemampuan kita.

Akhirnya, beta dengan tulus ikhlas  merakamkan setinggi-tinggi penghargaan dan ucapan terima kasih kepada seluruh lapisan rakyat dan penduduk, warga Perkhidmatan Awam, Pasukan-Pasukan Keselamatan serta mereka yang berkhidmat di sektor swasta termasuk mereka yang bertugas di luar negara di atas sumbangan dan sokongan mereka kepada kerajaan beta.

Penghargaan yang setinggi-tingginya juga disampaikan kepada seluruh Ahli  Jawatankuasa Perayaan peringkat kebangsaan dan daerah, atas segala khidmat usaha yang disumbangkan untuk menjayakan perayaan ini.

Beta berdoa semoga kita semua serta Negara Brunei Darussalam akan sentiasa kekal aman dan makmur, dikurniakan dengan limpah rahmat dan perlindungan oleh Allah  Subhanahu Wata'ala. Amin.

Sekian, Wabillahit Taufeq Walhidayah,  Wassalamu 'Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.