Brunei's Local News - Brudirect.com

Bandar Seri Begawan - Asian professionals are not getting enough recognition and pay for their work, says Ismail Hj Awab, the President of PSDC International Sdn Bhd of Malaysia.

Quoting PSDC International Sdn Bhd's survey, Ismail Hj Awab said that around US$ 3 trillion (B$ 4.4 trillion) was paid last year to professionals around the world in several mediums where more than 70 per cent were paid to westerners.

PSDC International Sdn Bhd, a Malaysian Government-backed agency and PSDC Global (B) Sdn Bhd of Brunei Darussalam signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) here yesterday.

Speaking during a press conference after the MoU signing, Ismail said that PSDC International aims to raise the standards of Asian's professionals, including Bruneians, globally using their

international projects as the avenue for transfers of knowledge.

"Our international projects will include professionals from Brunei Darussalam. Through the course of this collaboration, PSDC International will be applying the transfer of knowledge between our existing professionals and locals within Brunei Darussalam for sustainable development," he said.

Dato Jamal Husain, the CEO of PSDC Brunei, told the media that locals will be given the priority in terms of skilled workforce in PSDC Global Sdn Bhd of Brunei.

Ismail also announced that both companies are collaborating for the purpose of securing development projects within the country and internationally as well.

"PSDC is ready and capable to implement any kind of projects within the Sultanate, in line with its National Development Plan," he said, adding that PSDC has done similar projects in other parts of the world as well which attributes to its vast experience.

"Although PSDC Global of Brunei Darussalam is fairly new, the cooperation with our Malaysian counterparts will increase our credibility and experience," said Data Jamal.

He added that they are also looking at possibilities of opening private ventures as well to diversify their potential in order not to focus on government-backed projects only.

Asked by The Brunei Times on what projects they are keen to be involved, Dato Jamal said, "PSDC expects no special privilege through this memorandum. The merits of both companies will stand on its own."

"We are currently looking at projects that involve the diversification of Bandar Seri Begawan through its National Development Plan as our first project and also to serve sev- eral key projects such as the Rimba Housing Scheme," he said.

"Through PSDC International's 20 accumulative years of nation building experiences and our local infrastructure knowledge, there are a lot of possibilities. We will know in time," he added. -- Courtesy of The Brunei Times