Brunei Darussalam

Despite having sufficient capacity at its Muara Port, Brunei Darussalam has carried out several upgrades and built three inland container depots that offer improved Customs processing and better refrigeration. While Brunei Darussalam’s infrastructure is modern, it is comparatively basic. The country’s ambition to serve as a centre for regional trade, however, is now motivating a number of...

The 2006 Insurance Order and Insurance Regulations began a process of sector consolidation by implementing new requirements, such as a higher paid-up capital of $6.2m, up from $778,800. The government’s concerted efforts to reduce overall levels of personal debt in the Sultanate are expected to help the insurance sector grow and develop. Fronting business makes up a large part of activity in the...

Islamic services have long been a part of the financial mix within Brunei Darussalam. For the past two decades, Islamic banking, takaful (sharia-compliant insurance) and Islamic capital market products have been taking root and growing. These services now compete strongly against their conventional counterparts and continue to capture market share. With the government promoting sharia-compliant...

The banking sector has performed well historically, with a 70% increase in assets over 12 years. From 2007 to June 2012 total commercial banking assets in the Sultanate grew 30.5% to BN$20.1bn ($15.7bn). The sector is currently facing a period of re-adjustment, absorbing the implications of a more mature regulatory environment and looking at ways to support the government’s development plans. In...

Dominated by hydrocarbons, the energy sector in Brunei Darussalam has seen production begin to falter in the past five years and, therefore, is now awaiting the results of exploration and development programmes being carried out by international oil companies. There remains a high degree of optimism that these efforts will bear fruit, with the government setting ambitious production targets over...

Buoyed by hydrocarbon revenues, Brunei Darussalam’s economy has continued to grow, enabling a new push to greater diversification and creating job opportunities for locals. The government maintains strong fiscal and current account surpluses and is showing an appetite to direct this toward future growth and diversification. Indeed, with oil and gas making up more than two-thirds of the economy,...