Brunei government calls for stronger FDI
BRUNEI needs more foreign direct investment that creates value-added products and services as this can contribute to increased economic activity and spin-offs, the country’s energy and industry minister said yesterday.
In his speech during the opening of the Sinar Suria Bio Centre, Mohammad Yasmin bin Haji Umar said FDI was needed to develop the country’s economy.
“We invite FDI from across the supply chain to allow the development of robust value chains and industry ecosystems in the country,” he said during the event at the facility in Tungku, northern Brunei.
The minister said foreign investors must work in collaboration with government agencies and local micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.
He added that foreign investors must also be able to work further downstream to generate capital and economic spin-offs in the local market, and create employment opportunities and ultimately diversity in the Bruneian economy.
Yasmin also urged MC Biotech, a subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi Corporation, and its Sinar Suria Bio Centre to work together with the government to become an investor that could add value to the people of Brunei and the local business community.
He said agencies needed to work harder to make Brunei an attractive destination for foreign investors.
Yasmin said Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah had highlighted the need for the empowerment of the private sector in an address to the Legislative Council this year.
“His Majesty also indicated and urged for the need to facilitate economic activities by streamlining and improving the FDI process as well as to improve the ease of doing business in the country,” he said.
The Sinar Suria Bio Centre is located in the Bio-Innovation Corridor, an industrial park that was established to attract investments related to the halal and bio-industries.
MC Biotech runs the centre to produce astaxanthin, a raw material derived from Haematococcus algae.
Mitsubishi previously said global demand for astaxanthin had seen phenomenal growth in recent years, particularly in the US, Japanese, Southeast Asian, and Chinese markets because of its health properties.
Mitsubishi Corp has enjoyed long business ties with the Brunei government since the establishment of the company’s office in the country in 1971.
The company’s notable ventures in the country are a solar project at Tenaga Suria Brunei, agricultural company McFarm, and Brunei LNG, which is a joint venture of the Brunei government, Shell Overseas Holdings and Mitsubishi.
