| Hakim Hayat |
LEGISLATIVE Council (LegCo) members and the public yesterday hailed the introduction of several new government-led initiatives aimed at boosting Brunei Darussalam’s efforts in economic diversification, job creation and its human capacity.
His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam in his titah to mark the opening of the 13th Legislative Council (LegCo) session yesterday, outlined three new initiatives – the introduction of a Free Trade Zone to facilitate open trade and attract more foreign direct investment to the country especially in manufacturing; the establishment of a small and medium enterprise (SME) bank to give accessible financing to businesses and also an apprenticeship programme for fresh graduates seeking jobs called I-RDY (i-ready).
Newly sworn in LegCo member YB Khairunnisa binti Haji Ash’ari in an interview welcomed the announcement, citing that a number of suggestions put forward by the youth have been consented by His Majesty. “We hope this will be positively embraced by government agencies and also the private sector and we hope the youth will take advantage of these programmes to improve themselves,” she said.
With the establishment of the SME bank and the ‘I-RDY’ programme, YB Khairunissa expressed her confidence that the new initiatives, especially the apprenticeship programme, will help the youth and the public in enhancing their socio-economic capacities.
Commenting on the establishment of the SME bank, YB Khairunissa said it will help SMEs, especially start-up businesses by giving them access to low-interest start-up capital. “This will encourage growth, reduce risks and attract more people to delve into entrepreneurship as well as help boost the economy,” she added.
YB Khairunissa also hopes that the 13th LegCo session will give emphasis on youth-related issues, especially in making their voices heard and in enhancing their capacities. “Time has changed, we cannot just ask for things, but we should see how to seize an opportunity and how they can enhance their capacities through existing programmes and opportunities to help themselves,” she added.
LegCo member YB Khairunnisa binti Haji Ash’ari. – AZROL AZMI
In their interviews, members of the public, also welcomed the new initiatives, which many said signal a new breath for the country’s economy.
Syazwani binti Haji Mat Zinin, 26, a Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) graduate who has been running her own business since graduating in 2015 said, “The I-RDY programme is timely as a lot of unemployed graduates these days are still naive and don’t have the necessary experience and are not job-ready to face challenges in the working environment. It is sad to see that these graduates are only thinking of a single pathway after their education – working with the government. This mindset has to change because in this competitive world today, everyone must hone different skills and explore different ways to achieve self-sufficiency,” she said.
“A systematic programme like this will help give them the much needed guidance and direction and also provide them with hands-on experiences that will surely add more value to their skills and increase their chances of employability,” she added.
The government’s efforts to liberalise trade through a Free Trade Zone is also another economic transformation that is vital in ensuring Brunei’s efforts to diversify its economy succeeds, commented Haji Shahrihan bin Abdul Rahim, 57, a retired civil servant. “If we want to diversify our economy, we have to be more competitive and through this Free Trade Zone, it will help attract more investors into our country because of tariff-free movement of goods into and out of the country especially in manufacturing, thus creating more jobs for our locals,” he said.
Haji Shahrihan noted that such initiatives have been a feature of many successful economies in the world and for Brunei to join in the bandwagon, he said it is still not too late because we still have more attractive deals for foreign investors.
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