Brunei Darussalam

With the government having announced ambitious plans to reduce and eventually eliminate the need to wait for state housing, Brunei Darussalam’s construction sector looks set for a busy few years. The industry is indeed already experiencing something of a growth spurt.

A plan for Brunei Darussalam to become 60% self-sufficient in rice production by 2015 may at first glance seem an overly optimistic goal, but with a little assistance from several of the Sultanate’s neighbours, the country could be on the way to greater food security for its staple crop.

Having long given its support to regional and multilateral efforts to promote trade, Brunei Darussalam has recently been highly involved in negotiations for a new multilateral free trade agreement that could transform the economies of the Asia-Pacific region.

Brunei Darussalam’s economy closed out 2011 in good health, with GDP rising, inflation under control and plans to build on existing strengths and develop new opportunities. However, concerns remain over the slowing global economic growth and how this may impact the country.

Brunei Darussalam’s information and communication technology (ICT) sector is winning international recognition and moving closer to meeting the government’s objective of making the Sultanate a knowledge-based economy. However, the acceptance of ICT in daily life is by no means even throughout the country.

Looking to build on its recent good showing in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business (EODB) survey, where it made solid gains in a number of categories and improved its overall ranking, Brunei Darussalam is now looking to further enhance its business climate and attract increasing levels of foreign direct investment. Yet, it still has some way to go before it achieves its goal of being included in the upper percentile of the World Bank ratings.