Brunei sees potential to attract Chinese investment: deputy minister

Brunei sees great potential to attract more investment from Chinese companies, as China continues to provide support and incentives to encourage its companies to invest overseas, Brunei's Deputy Minister of Finance Dato Mohd Amin Liew said on Monday.

In his keynote speech on the establishment of the Chinese Enterprise Association in Brunei (CEAB), Amin Liew, who is also chairman of the Brunei Economic Development Board, said direct investment from China grew from 12.9 million Brunei dollars (9.6 million U.S. dollars) in 2015 to 116.1 million Brunei dollars (86.1 million U.S. dollars) in the first quarter of this year.

He also noted that China has put forward a series of new initiatives such as the Belt and Road Initiative which is aimed at reviving the ancient trade routes spanning from Asia, Europe to Africa.

"Brunei, as one of the countries along the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, will work closely with our Chinese partners to use the kingdom as the central point of BIMP-EAGA (Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-the Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area) region to build connectivity between the countries."

He also said Brunei and China has "long shared strong bilateral relationship with growing economic and cultural ties."

"In September, we will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of the diplomatic relations of our two countries."

Chinese Ambassador Yang Jian said in a speech that the establishment of CEAB symbolizes stronger economic ties between the two countries.

"China is willing to join hands with Brunei to build the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road in synergy with Brunei's Wawasan 2035," she said. "By bring into full paly our respective strengths, I am confident that our joint efforts will bring more opportunities to the people of our two countries." Enditem