| Danial Norjidi |
THE Borneo Bulletin Yearbook (BBYB), the most comprehensive guide to Brunei Darussalam, celebrated its 25th anniversary yesterday.
The occasion was marked with the Borneo Bulletin Yearbook 2018 networking session organised by Brunei Press Sdn Bhd at The Horizons Seafood Restaurant, and saw Dato Paduka Dr Awang Haji Mat Suny bin Haji Mohd Hussein, the Minister of Energy and Industry in attendance as the guest of honour.
The event brought together industry leaders and key personnel from government-linked companies, public and private sectors to exchange ideas and explore the theme, ‘Moving Ahead, from Blueprint to Reality’.
Since 1993, the BBYB has been published annually and distributed via redemption coupons in the Borneo Bulletin and Media Permata. It provides an overview of Brunei with a special focus on foreign direct investment, commercial opportunities, investment potential and the country’s development and diversification efforts in line with Brunei Vision 2035. The BBYB also highlights the Brunei Government administration and updated country facts and figures.
In a speech at yesterday’s event, Reggie See, the General Manager of Brunei Press Sdn Bhd said, “Today we are delighted to mark the 25th anniversary of the Borneo Bulletin Yearbook.
“The BBYB was introduced in 1993 when it was difficult and almost impossible to gather updated information on Brunei Darussalam. Sensing the need of marketers, readers and the business travellers for latest statistics and demographic profiles of Brunei Darussalam, the BBYB has been published and distributed with our newspapers Borneo Bulletin and Media Permata every year.
“The annual BBYB presents a compilation of information of Brunei Darussalam which has become an indispensable guide for businesses and visitors to the country. Over the years, the ever popular BBYB is also being used and taken out by visitors and local authority for overseas official and business events.”
The BBYB reaches out to Brunei and beyond. It is available in all hotels in the country, Brunei foreign embassies worldwide and high commissions based in the country. A digital format of the BBYB is also available on borneobulletinyearbook.com.bn.
The general manager said, “To enhance the availability of BBYB globally, the digital BBYB is available online for the convenience of companies, readers and visitors anywhere, anytime. For instance, the digital BBYB 2017 registered more than 50,000 visits and 2.2 million page views.
“The success of BBYB for the past 25 years is attributed to the demand and support of both the public and private sectors for reference of updated and latest information about Brunei Darussalam,” he added.
Dato Paduka Dr Awang Haji Mat Suny, also delivered a speech at the event.
“Allow me to congratulate Brunei Press on this momentous occasion and for the many years that the Borneo Bulletin Yearbook has been an authoritative guide and comprehensive reference point to Brunei Darussalam,” he said. “As Reggie See mentioned earlier, the yearbook has proven to be an indispensable guide to Brunei for visitors, local authorities, and of course, for businesses.
“The wide reach of the Borneo Bulletin Yearbook since its inception is no small feat and I would like to applaud the progress Brunei Press has made over the last decade in ensuring that its production is 100 per cent locally managed, from sales and marketing to editorial to design and print.”
He concluded his speech by offering his “heartfelt appreciation to the editorial contributors of the 25th edition of the Borneo Bulletin Yearbook and the hard work and effort by the Brunei Press team in putting together the publication.
One of the attendees at yesterday’s session was Dr Nur Rahman, CEO of Ghanim International Corporation, who shared, “I think the Borneo Bulletin Yearbook is a fantastic initiative that puts together all the major events and also main companies in Brunei.”
He added that the BBYB “is a platform that can be used to share information and we come to know about organisations and events in Brunei, what is happening and what are the upcoming things and how the companies are performing through it.”
“It’s an experience-sharing platform which is fantastic for different organisations. They can share each other’s information and learn from it as well.”
He offered his congratulations for the BBYB’s 25th anniversary, and said, “Twenty-five years is a big milestone that it has achieved and the way it’s progressing, I believe it has got many things to come up and deliver in the future. I wish every success for the Borneo Bulletin Yearbook year after year.”
Jaymee Lau, from the Marketing Department of KFC (B) Sdn Bhd also commented, saying, “KFC has been supporting Borneo Bulletin especially, and the BBYB since 2013.
“I think it’s a good initiative by Brunei Press,” she said, noting that it emphasises and focusses on Brunei businesses. “I think this book is a good initiative to create awareness, and to actually tell about each and every business in Brunei in every field.”
“I would like to congratulate them for achieving this 25 years mark. I think it’s a huge, huge achievement, because there are not many that can achieve that mark,” she added.
Another guest to comment was Javed Ahmad, the Chief Executive Officer of DARe (Darussalam Enterprise), who said that “when we are visiting overseas and meeting potential partners in terms of cooperation, it is good to bring some information in relation to your country with regards to the business environment and businesses and so on, and a publication of this nature is very useful in terms of giving it to counterparts overseas, and they can actually get some information on the country.”
“I think it’s a great idea. It has actually been going on for 25 years and particularly, we want to not only use it in Brunei, but more importantly use overseas in all our visits.”
On the milestone of 25 years, he said, “It’s fantastic. I think it basically tells you of the demand for it. Twenty-five years basically gives you the confidence in terms of the long-term viability of the project.”
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