2009 — a year of great expectations

AS THE New Year ushers in with great expectations, it's time to look back and see what has been achieved in 2008 and where and what more needs to be done to bring in the desired results.

The year that went past naturally should serve as guide to chart the future course. One thing that Bruneians must admire and be thankful for are the wise economic policies undertaken by the government, which has resulted in the Sultanate largely unaffected by the global downturn.

But that does not mean the citizens of this welfare state can rest on its laurels. Bruneians, having been pampered and used to the generous subsidies provided by the Government of His Majesty need to make themselves aware of the government's increasingly taxing burden of subsidy provision.

One of the more pressing issues facing Brunei and the rest of the world is the growing concern of food insecurity, which has been noted countless times in His Majesty's titahs. The country currently has a self-sufficiency rate of 3.12 per cent for rice and imports the bulk of the remainder from Thailand. The government and farmers in the private sector have been hard-pressed to improve this figure, and while efforts and several projects have been put into play, the rest of the citizens the consumers can only hope all turns out well.

His Majesty once again stressed on achieving zero-poverty during a titah in conjunction with the celebration of Hijrah 1430 Islamic new year last month.

The monarch previously pointed out that agriculture can help reduce poverty rate by as much as four times when compared to other economic sectors.

"This should provide us with ideas on which methods to develop to overcome the poverty issue. It is up to us whether we want to try this method or not," said His Majesty. This is clear enough of an indication to what the monarch wants in tackling the issue, and the relevant individuals need to take heed of it and follow through.

Brunei cannot be an oil country forever. Projects for economic diversification, already an overused phrase in addressing the urgent need to reduce reliance on hydrocarbons, are already in place, if not some.

The Pulau Muara Besar project, which could cost up to US$1.5 billion to complete, is expected to transform the Muara area and generate massive economic benefits and opportunities for the locals. An export-processing zone for halal food, a distribution centre, a manufacturing hub, an aluminium smelter, an oil refinery and a storage facility are in the pipelines for this highly-anticipated project.

The Sultanate's sustainable economic growth is somewhat not in tandem with the size of the population growth. Though the economy has always been dependent on oil and gas, which makes up 90 per cent of export revenues, it has only absorbed less than three per cent of the country's workforce.

The Long Term Development Plan (Wawasan 2035) aims to address this challenge one of many that will be faced to fulfil the people's hopes for the country's future development. It outlines the national vision aimed to achieve an income per capita placed among the world's top ten 26 years from now. With the master plan already cast in stone, all that is left is for the people to carry it out.

The October of 2008 marked a historic moment for the Brunei military, when five Royal Brunei Armed Forces personnel took part in a United Nations peacekeeping mission for the first time in Lebanon.

On the home front, the Royal Brunei Police Force played a critical role in ensuring national security is always maintained. The recent spate of domestic crimes, which included armed robbery, house break-ins and smuggling was successfully curtailed by the RBPF. The constant enhancement of RBPF's services, which was compounded with a transparent nature of the way the personnel dealt with various cases was certainly a testament to the continuous improvement of the 88th year of its existence.

The only drawback that occurred frequently over last year was flooding and landslides which damaged government and private properties. In a way this was an eye-opener for the respective government ministries to enforce new regulations with respect to constructing residential and non-residential property, and further improve drainage systems while ensuring certificate of fitness be stringent to ensure the safety of residents.

The year 2008 was filled with positive developments. This had somewhat improved the social economic well-being of the citizens while ensuring that sustainable economic growth be maintained. One testament to this is the ability of Brunei to buffer against the current economic turmoil that has diminished the wealth in many nations around the world. To continue striving forward, the collaboration between the public and private sectors needs to be intensified for the Sultanate to gain economic benefits that can be sustained for years to come.

The Brunei Times