Brunei plans "special economic zone" for more foreign investments: senior official

Brunei government has been planning to establish a special economic zone in order to attract more foreign direct investments (FDIs), a senior financial official told Xinhua Wednesday afternoon.

Awang Yusof, Managing Director of Brunei's central bank, Autoriti Monetari Brunei Darussalam (AMBD), said that Brunei has been providing favorite policies to foreign investors, including tax deductions and exemptions for government recognized "pioneer industry companies," which can last 11 years or even longer.

As for a question on whether Brunei will set up a special zone like China's Shenzhen with comprehensive incentives for FDIs, Awang Yusof gave a confirmative answer.

"I think they have that special economic zone in the plan actually. I don't know the location, but I think they have identified one zone, probably in Muara or in the city," he said.

Brunei's Muara area has witnessed a number of Chinese companies coming into business in the country, including several state-owned Chinese engineer companies and a multi-billion U.S dollars refinery and petrochemical plant project launched by Zhejiang Hengyi, which is also the single biggest Chinese investment here so far.

"We must have that(special economic zone), you know, otherwise we can't turn Muara port into international shipping harbor," Awang Yusof added.

With a strategic geographic position, Brunei is rich in oil and gas resources. In recent years, the Brunei government is actively diversifying its economy and has introduced a number of measures to attract foreign investments, which have played a very important role in the Brunei's economy, bringing job opportunities and dynamism to the country. Endit