| Danial Norjidi |
BRUNEI’s location in the world offers great opportunities for local businesses, and the country has the potential to be the Dubai of tomorrow.
This was yesterday said by Ray Khabbaz, one of the owners and Director of Australian Wholefoods, while delivering a presentation at the Brunei Halal Showcase 2016.
Khabbaz is a highly successful entrepreneur who has 40 years of experience, and has owned and operated numerous businesses.
Khabbaz’s presentation carried the title ‘Hello Tomorrow: A transitional discussion on global trends in food and business, drawing on success stories from abroad.’
In his presentation, he began by speaking on global trends before going on to share how he achieved his success, continues to strive for even more. He also underlined the importance of being driven, and of having the determination to succeed.
Speaking on Brunei, he highlighted its well-placed connectivity.
“You are so well placed in the world,” he said, asserting that entrepreneurs need to look beyond Brunei’s borders and see the opportunity this connectivity offers them.
Ray Khabbaz. – PHOTO: AZROL AZMI
One such opportunity lies in the Asean market, he said, as it has a population of 626 million, all of which is within Brunei’s reach, as it takes around two hours to reach a number of major Asean cities by plane.
He also noted the opportunity presented by Brunei’s location in relation to China, as it gives Bruneian businesses access to China’s market of 1.3 billion people.
Khabbaz drew parallels between Brunei’s current situation in 2016 to Dubai’s in 1980. Back in 1980, Dubai had 275,000 people – 0.00061 per cent of the global population at the time. Brunei in 2016 has over 400,000 people, about 0.00057 per cent of the current global population.
Dubai has now developed substantially to become a hub, and he highlighted that Brunei can do the same.
He noted that Brunei’s current highest value export commodities are petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals and crude, as well as petroleum gases and other gaseous hydrocarbons.
He also noted that the government’s focus is to build progressive and sustainable economic growth through an increase of export-oriented industries. He reiterated that Brunei is well placed for access to export markets across Asean.
He added that it also holds strong guidelines for Halal food, as well as a favourable tax environment for personal, corporate and foreign direct investment into the country.
Khabbaz highlighted that new economic activity diversified from oil and gas revenue can lead to multiple benefits. These include: increase in local employment and strengthening of human capital; stronger ties between government and industry in building a sustainable food industry; growth to export revenue; enhanced market and trade access; opportunities for training and skill set enhancement for locals, as well as transfer of expert knowledge and technology; and increased value through research and development and innovation.
He then went on to share the “process of change” that entrepreneurs can carry out in their organisations, which he said requires a cultural shift.
In this process of change, entrepreneurs need to: start at the top and communicate the message; assess and address the cultural landscape; involve every layer – address the ‘human side’ and be inclusive; create ownership – empower people to make decisions at a local operating level; communicate clearly and often; create short-term wins; don’t let up – highlight achieved and future milestones; and make change stick – weave change into culture.
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