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Home to 3.6m people spread over 19,016 sq km, Malaysia’s most southerly state, Johor, has long played a key political and economic role in the country’s development. On the Strait of Malacca and sharing a border with Singapore, it has the country’s busiest trans-shipment hub and benefits from its position at the crossroads of some of the world’s most important trading routes. Over the past decade much development has focused on the Iskandar Malaysia project, one of five regional growth corridors currently under way in Malaysia, and the most successful in terms of investment committed. The state has improved key roads and other infrastructure as investors have pumped money into education, new industries, tourism and manufacturing. This chapter contains an interview with Ismail Ibrahim, Chief Executive, Iskandar Regional Development Authority.

This chapter explores Brunei Darussalam’s tax regime, focusing on key areas that include tax breaks for businesses, incentives, the withholding tax regime and deductible expenses. It also contains a viewpoint from Shazali Sulaiman, Partner, KPMG Brunei Darussalam; and Chairman, Brunei Darussalam International Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

This chapter provides a guide to the Sultanate’s regulatory structure, focusing on key areas including property laws, IP rights and the sharia system. It also contains a viewpoint from Colin Ong, Managing Partner, Dr Colin Ong Legal Services; and President, Arbitration Association Brunei Darussalam (AABD).

Tourism operators in the Sultanate have experienced an eventful few years. A government reshuffle in late 2015 seemed aimed at increasing the focus on the tourism sector, lending hope to many private sector operators that the government would increase support for the growth and expansion of the industry. In tandem with this, however, the appreciation of the Sultanate’s dollar, which is pegged to the Singapore dollar, has seen many potential visitors taking their business to Malaysia instead of Brunei Darussalam. However, bright spots remain for the Sultanate’s tourism operators. As low oil prices continue to weigh on the government’s budget and reserves, many eyes are looking to the tourism sector to add vibrancy to the non-oil economy. This chapter contains an interview with Mario Hardy, CEO, Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA)

In 2007-08 South-east Asia was hit by an unprecedented shortage of staple food products. A number of factors have been blamed for this event, including droughts, a surge in costs, low stockpiles, increasing demand from growing middle-class populations and speculation over commodity prices. In response, the governments of many countries in the region embarked on efforts to ensure that they would not be caught out by food shortages again. Brunei Darussalam was no exception to this, with the Sultanate moving quickly to priorities food security and increased self-sufficiency as key aims of its economic development plans. Since then, agriculture and fisheries, agri-business, aquaculture, and food research and development (R&D) have all been prioritized, with impressive results in some sub sectors. At the same time, Brunei Darussalam has also been working to make a name for itself globally as a key halal food center, bringing a rigorous examination and certification program to the international halal table. This chapter contains an interview with Dato Ali Apong, Minister of Primary Resources and Tourism.

A number of large-scale infrastructure projects are currently being rolled out in Brunei Darussalam that look set to make a significant contribution to the national economy, greatly facilitating the Sultanate’s connectivity and potentially leading to further construction opportunities. In addition, several small-sized projects are under way, which promise to add to the Sultanate’s attractiveness as an investment destination and undergird its growth as a logistics and processing hub. Meanwhile, the real estate sector has gone through a series of transformations in the past few years that have altered the landscape considerably for buyers and sellers alike. These developments encompass changes to title law, loan regulations, ownership and the market itself in terms of demand and the type of housing being built to supply that demand. This chapter contains an interview with Bobby Chua, Vice-Chairman, Swee.