Africa’s second-biggest economy and by far its most globally integrated in terms of capital and trade flows, South Africa has had to navigate challenging waters in recent years. The economy has come a long way since apartheid ended 20 years ago, with significant improvements in both productivity and capacity – and a GDP that is now 2.5 times larger – but domestic and exogenous...
The launch of the Brunei Insurance and Takaful Association (BITA) in November 2013 was a major event for the insurance industry and a highly anticipated one since plans for its formation were agreed upon in 2011. Bringing for the first time conventional and takaful insurers under one group, BITA is expected to unify the industry, especially in its relations with...
Although the business environment for insurers is challenging, Brunei Darussalam’s small insurance industry continues to expand gradually. Increasingly high court awards to accident victims have impacted the profitability of mandatory automotive and workers’ compensation insurance, while the government’s local business development policies as well as strong support for...
While trade liberalisation through ASEAN will open up opportunities for Brunei Darussalam, the Sultanate may have a larger immediate impact within the smaller sub-region of Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines-East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA). Established in 1994 to address the socioeconomic progress of less developed, marginalised and far-flung areas and...
Much of the procedural elements of Brunei Darussalam’s regional integration are intended to tear down any remaining trade barriers in order to facilitate greater trade between member countries. But in order to take full advantage of these new opportunities, a network of seamless interconnectivity between these markets must be established in terms of communications,...
With the sum total of nearly every national economy now irrevocably intertwined in a global marketplace, cooperation between different countries has become an imperative component of modern economics. Although countless trade barriers still exist in some form or another all around the world, longheld isolationist and protectionist measures which erect trade barriers at...
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