From Wednesday, 23rd May 2018 to Sunday, 27th May 2018, certain members of Management, along with the Chief Executive Officer of the Maritime and Ports Authority Brunei Darussalam (“MPA”), YM Haji Salihin bin Haji Aspar, accompanied the Minister of Finance II, YB Dato Seri Setia Dr. Awang Haji Mohd Amin Liew bin Abdullah to the 10th Pan- Beibu Gulf Economic Cooperation Forum in Nanning, People’s Republic of China. The forum held discussions on the theme of “The Southern Transport Corridor – A New Route of International Trade Across Land and Over Sea”.

During the forum, YB Dato Seri Setia Dr. Awang Haji Mohd Amin Liew bin Abdullah delivered two speeches in which it was emphasised that cooperation, connectivity, and coordination are key factors for successful development and economic growth. In line with this, both Darussalam Assets Sdn Bhd (“DA”) and Beibu Gulf (HK) Ltd (“Beibu”) have created and optimal environment for cooperation through its commitment to local human capital development, the improvement of business processes, and the introduction of management best practices as well as a legal framework outlining each party’s responsibilities. YB Dato Seri Setia Dr. Awang Haji Mohd Amin Liew bin Abdullah added that via MPC, steps have been taken to increase the connectivity of Brunei through the reduction of logistics costs, thereby spurring local economic activity, facilitating trade across borders, and improving efficiency and throughput with the aim of becoming a world class port. YB Dato Seri Setia Dr. Awang Haji Mohd Amin Liew then stated that coordination with Beibu is one part of a multi-faceted strategy to diversify Brunei’s economy.

The forum provided a few valuable key takeaways for Brunei. The first of these is that local commercial entities can greatly benefit from the Southern Transport Corridor (“STC”) through the reduced overall costs when entering the Western Chinese market. Brunei should also utilise the relationship with Beibu to create a transport corridor between Brunei and Qinzhou Port, which would connect Borneo Island and surrounding cities via hinterland and sea to Western China.