| Lyna Mohamad |
BRUNEI and Malaysia achieved another milestone in their bilateral agricultural cooperation with the signing of the ‘Strategic Alliances Agreement on the Multiuse Products for Agriculture’ between International Halal Trade Hub and Services Sdn Bhd (IHTHS) and Malaysia’s Economic Development Management (EDMO).
The signing, led by the Brunei Darussalam BIMP-EAGA Business Council (BD-BEBC) and facilitated by Brunei’s Industry and Business Ecosystem Division at the Ministry of Energy, Manpower and Industry (MEMI) and the Malaysia Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI), was inked in a ceremony held onboard a cruise boat at the Queen Elizabeth Jetty in Jalan Kota Batu.
Chairman of BD-BEBC Pengiran Haji Yura Kesteria bin Pengiran Setia Negara Dr Pengiran Haji Mohd Yusof was the guest of honour.
Also in attendance were Assistant Director of Industry and Business Ecosystem at the MEMI Subandi bin Kamis and Dr Ramlee bin Mohd Noor from MARDI.
Signing the agreement for Brunei and Malaysia respectively were Director of Business Development and Logistics at IHTHS Ramlee bin Begawan Pehin Khatib Dato Paduka Haji Zainuddin, and Chairman of Malaysia’s EDMO Ariff Fadli bin Abdl Wahab.
The collaboration on the multiuse agriculture products is envisioned to accelerate growth and increase crop output in the agriculture industry of both countries.
The agriculture products, developed in Malaysia through a collaborative project between EDMO and MARDI, will be tested via a pilot programme following yesterday’s signing.
Additional signatories to the agreement include the Young Farmers Group of the Youth Development Centre, Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, the group penning their signature in an effort to create sustainable downstream services to promote self employment and cluster development.
Signing for the Young Farmers Group was Hairinshah bin Tahiruddin.
As part of the agreement, a factory is likely to be set up in Brunei Darussalam to produce these agricultural products for the local, BIMP-EAGA and global markets.
Commenting on the factory, Head of SME Development at BD-BEBC, Captain (Rtd) Zailan bin Pehin Datu Kerma Setia Dato Seri Laila Jasa Mohd Don said, “We need to however be very practical to understand our strengths and weaknesses on production capacity. It requires a conclusive planning with regional prospective stakeholders for Brunei to be sustainable especially during these current economic challenges.”
He added that with funds raised by local investors, Brunei should promote small-and medium-sized start-up factories capable of meeting local demand and encourage cross-border trade, particularly in the BIMP-EAGA region.
On cross-border trade, Captain (Rtd) Zailan elaborated that it is imperative for Brunei to understand the geopolitical situation of neighbouring countries in its efforts to promote economic development, especially with regard to protecting its domestic industries, as most border-trade areas share common socio-economic and culture characteristics.
“However BIMP-EAGA, through the BIMP-EAGA Vision 2025 (BEV 2025), provides certain policies that give significant advantages for local businesses to expand within the BIMP-EAGA region, by promoting the socioeconomic activities for economic growth that can lead toward industrial revolution,” Captain (Rtd) Zailan added. “On the strategic note, what we are creating today is a sustainable business ecosystem that compliments each other, consisting of supply chain management, production, trading and market demand.
“BD-BEBC, as the catalyst will foresee smooth adaptations of BIMP-EAGA trade policy to progress development mainly in industrial growth and provide facilitation to those businesses that are willing to expand beyond borders.”