| Lyna Mohamad |
MINISTER at the Prime Minister’s Office and Minister of Finance and Economy II Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Haji Mohd Amin Liew bin Abdullah yesterday officiated at opening of a new State Street Corporation office, at the Pavo Point building in the capital.
The minister highlighted the collaborations made by State Street Corporation with universities around the world, while also urging for similar collaborations within Brunei.
“Brunei intends to further develop its financial services industry, and I believe that State Street can play a crucial role in its development,” said the minister.
He added, “I firmly believe in the strength of the infrastructure, where Brunei is a relatively young country with a highly educated workforce with strong English proficiency, coupled with a high quality of life and affordable costs of living.”
He also noted that with its 226 years of history, State Street is one of the world’s leading providers of financial services to global institutional investors, which is why their presence here is an important statement for other institutions to consider investing in Brunei.
“With the advent of new technologies like Blockchain and the disruption it causes to traditional ways of transacting, the challenges can be quite daunting,” said the minister. “However, I strongly feel Brunei, as a country and as a partner, can be part of a viable component in the crafting of the solution.”
He pointed out that the country is aiming for the financial services sector to be a major contributor of the national GDP, as part of the government’s drive towards achieving Brunei Vision 2035.
“The country will require market participants like State Street and other industry leaders, domestically and internationally, to drive this goal,” he said.
“Having developed rapidly under the influence of new innovation and advancing technology in recent years, the Internet has become a new catalyst for economic development, social and business transformation.
“With the Southeast Asian Internet economy expected to grow from USD50 billion to USD250 billion over the next seven years, it is essential to amalgamate the local and international industry leaders together to drive Brunei successfully towards the digital economy.
“With this end in mind, Brunei will take steps to introduce enabling policies which will put Brunei as an attractive prospect for high-technology and high-value-added industries in the region.
“Areas of coverage will include digital infrastructure, supportive regulatory framework, up-skilling and reskilling of current workforce, and allowing for more collaborative platforms for technology and standards development.
“Therefore we encourage endeavours that can bring us closer to our goal in realising the digital future,” he said.
Earlier, Head of Asia-Pacific at State Street Ian Martin noted that their business here has grown steadily since the establishment of State Street Corporation in Brunei eight years ago.
“Moving to this new location in the heart of the financial district enables us to accommodate staff in order to meet our needs locally and regionally,” he said. “This move is a further sign of our commitment to servicing our clients and growing our business in Brunei and throughout the region.”
One of the world’s leading providers of financial services to institutional investors including investment servicing, investment management and investment research and trading, State Street Corporation has USD31.62 trillion in assets under custody and administration and USD2.51 trillion in assets under management as of December 31, 2018.
This figure presented as of December 31, 2018, includes approximately USD32.44 billion of assets with respect to S&P Depository Receipts products, for which State Street Global Advisors Funds Distributors, LLC (SSGA FD) acts solely as the marketing agent. SSGA FD and State Street Global Advisors are affiliated.
State Street operates in more than 100 geographic markets worldwide, including the United States of America, Canada, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.