SPE EVENING PRESENTATION

The first SPE evening for 1999 was held on 9th February 1999 at Sheraton Utama in Bandar Seria Begawan. The topic for the night was a non-technical subject presented by local businessman, Mr. Timothy Ong. The topic of Mr. Ong’s talk is ’Brunei Darussalam’s economic challenges’. A brief introductory speech was delivered by the SPE Brunei Section Secretary Pg. Hj. Yasmin Pg.Hj. Mohammad followed by Hj. Zainal Abidin Hj. Mohd. Ali, Vice Chairman. For the benefit of the new members, Hj. Zainal reiterated the mission of SPE which is to collect, store and disseminate knowledge/technology the members need in oil and gas industries which at present are undergoing rapid and radical changes.

The topic for that night relates to the current economic crisis that affects Asean countries. Bruneian (especially the government servant) is protected from economic crisis where the "hardship allowance" was increased (just recently). 75% of jobs in are with the Brunei government. Brunei is government driven (projects) economy. In order to keep up with the population growth, Brunei needs to create 2,500 jobs per year.  The GDP of Brunei is around +/- 1.5 % per year with 2.5% in population growth. The higher population growth than GDP will inevitably result in unsustainable (decline) standard of living.

Brunei needs to create active private sectors in order to diversifying the economy. In order to attract foreign investment, Brunei needs to deregulate and create commercially attractive business environment. Brunei should not try to compete in sectors which others countries have already established itself in the market (for example many sectors in Singapore) but must find areas where it is special to Brunei. Some of the examples highlighted where Brunei could be successful are in Islamic financial Banking services and sport tourism.

Also mentions was the needs for providing the right jobs for locals with high academic qualification which stretched them as much as possible with their knowledge and skill.