| James Kon |
THE Minister of Education Pehin Orang Kaya Indera Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Suyoi bin Haji Osman yesterday welcomed the Southeast Asian Regional Centre for Tropical Biology (SEAMEO Biotrop) researchers and individuals applying for research grants from the centre to conduct collaborative or joint projects on tropical biology with researchers from Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) in the country’s pristine rainforests.
“Such innovative research partnerships will benefit both the SEAMEO Biotrop and UBD in addressing common concerns and achieve shared goals,” said the minister during his address at the opening of the SEAMEO Biotrop 55th Governing Board Meeting, which is currently being held in Brunei Darussalam.
In his address, the minister also said that Brunei Darussalam holds a wealth of natural richness which is both a resource and heritage that requires proper continued research, understanding and documentation, as well as conservation and management.
Highlighting the advantage of working with UBD, the minister stated, “Higher education institutions – in particular UBD – possess up-to-date knowledge and good practices in tropical biology. In fact, UBD has identified biodiversity research as one of its research foci, which can contribute towards sustainable use and conservation of tropical biodiversity and ecosystems.”
UBD’s Institute for Biodiversity and Environment Research (IBER), the minister explained, “has a world-class field research centre in Kuala Belalong which has carried out innovative and cutting-edge research and collaborations with internationally acclaimed scientists and higher learning institutions.”
Besides facilitating research, the centre also provides unparalleled opportunities for field-based training and offers environmental education programmes for Brunei’s secondary school students as well as local and international graduates.
Pehin Orang Kaya Indera Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Suyoi also noted SEAMEO Biotrop’s past efforts to collaborate with the School of Agro-Technology and Applied Science – and now with the Institute of Brunei Technical Education (IBTE) – to transfer technology, knowledge and ideas to teachers to aid them in their efforts to help the youth in Brunei develop their interests and passion in agriculture, as well as to spark more innovation in the agriculture sector in the future.
Besides the established colla-boration, the minister also expressed his hope that SEAMEO Biotrop can look into providing training programmes for Brunei’s youth in agriculture technologies such as tissue culture, hydroponics, aquaponics and global information system (GIS)/remote sensing for agriculture planning and monitoring.
Such capacity-building pro-grammes, the minister said, “will attract more youth to be involved in agriculture, leading to the possibility of them eventually developing agro-enterprises which can help in the nation’s economic diversification efforts.”
The minister also stated his hopes of having two base programmes for SEAMEO countries implemented in Brunei’s schools: the School Garden for improving students’ literacy, nutrition and entrepreneurship programme, and the Urban Agriculture Training programme.
“I hope that SEAMEO Biotrop will continue to promote and enhance the expertise of the centre and forge strategic alliances with the relevant institutions in Brunei Darussalam and other members’ respective countries,” said the minister, before concluding his speech.
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