CSPS study on making Brunei business-friendly

THE Centre for Strategic and Policy Studies (CSPS) plans to carry out a number of research projects on the ease of doing business in Brunei, district-level development and overseas spending, the centre's newly-appointed executive director shared.

In an interview with The Brunei Times, Dato Paduka Dr Hj Ismail Hj Duraman said that the plans and ongoing research were in line with CSPS's role in contributing national development, especially through research towards the promotion of economic diversification.

"When we are talking about economic diversification, there are some areas which need to be improved," he said.

He highlighted the ease of doing business as this could be one of the hurdles in speeding up economic diversification.

"Compared to other countries, we are far behind. We want to make it easier for people from overseas to invest and do business here," he said, adding that the study will be looking at how they can facilitate this process.

Dato Dr Hj Ismail also spoke of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam's concern on food security. "We want to come up with a policy on how this food security needs to be prepared in advance," he said.

Apart from agriculture, the people's attitude and perception on this matter would also be looked at. "Everyone has to contribute to this important aspect in their lives," he said.

Spending on healthcare and medicine was also brought to attention. At present, the Ministry of Health has been spending a lot on medicine and healthcare.

Therefore, we need to look into this public spending since we do not want the burden to solely fall on the government, he added.

"The people themselves have to be responsible for their own health and (CSPS) is looking into how this can be done," he said, while noting that they would also study best practices implemented by other countries and how this can be adapted in Brunei's situation.

CSPS will also conduct its in-house research projects through their staff at the centre from time to time, he said. Among these include raising public awareness on how much was spent overseas by the population or the economic "leakages", as he referred to it.

"Everyday people are buying things elsewhere instead of buying it inside the country," Dato Dr Hj Ismail said. "The money does not circulate within our own economy, and instead it goes overseas. We need to see what can be done about this."

Another in-house project was studying the factors leading to the uneven development of the districts.

"We want to see why some of our districts are not developed faster compared to Bandar Seri Begawan," he said.

He added that the study would look at how development can be balanced between the districts, through the even distribution of industries and population.

Under the long-term agenda, the executive director said the centre hopes to award diplomas or certification in the future, as stated under its constitution.

"We want to upgrade the position of the centre, not only as a research institute," he said, adding that this would require collaboration with other institutions in the country and abroad.

"We try to share the knowledge that we have with everyone, (so that) the centre can play its significant role to the development of the nation".

- Ubaidillah Masli

The Brunei Times