Brunei, Costa Rica sign deals to strengthen relations

Brunei Darussalam and Costa Rica has inked two documents on bilateral cooperation, paving the way for deeper ties in multiple areas, local media reported Tuesday.

Lim Jock Seng, Brunei's minister at the Prime Minister's Office and second minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade signed the Framework Cooperation Agreement and a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Periodic High Level Consultations with Gonzalez Sanz, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Costa Rica here on Monday.

Brunei and Costa Rica formally established diplomatic relations on April 14, 1994. The two documents are for both countries to promote various areas of cooperation including technical, economic, scientific and cultural.

Speaking to reporters after the signing, the Costa Rican minister said that the relations between his country and Brunei has increased and strengthened during the course of the last six to seven months.

He said that during his visit to the sultanate, he has been discussing commonalities which both countries have. Eventhough Costa Rica does not produce oil and gas, he said, the country has very well-diversified economy. He went on to say that 30 years ago his country was only exporting four commodities and the country then was hit by a crisis that obligated them to diversify their economy.

"Nowadays, we are able to export about 4,000 products to 160 countries in the world," he said. With its experiences in economic diversification, he said, Costa Rica is keen to work together and share best practices with Brunei.

"We are very much willing to learn from each other," he said, adding that Brunei also has a very important policy to attract foreign direct investments and that is one of the fields in which Costa Rica have also been relatively successful.

While in Brunei, the visiting minister was met by the Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah and other high ranking officials. Enditem