More Restaurants Close Down Over Stiff Competition
By Rosh Abidin Yahya

Bandar Seri Begawan - The huge competition faced by restaurant operators has forced some of them to close down their establishments after they fail to attract diners to sustain business.

A large number of restaurants in the Brunei-Muara District alone had wound up.

Some have attributed it to street peddlers and vendors who could offer food at low prices because rents and other operating expenditures are low.

"Rentals have definitely gone down in some places; usually in areas not normally frequented by customers.

"But we still need to close down and find strategic locations," said some operators. They said restaurants alone would not be sustainable in the long term due to the lack of other related business opportunities.

"I depend on catering for weddings and special occasions. If I have to depend on my outlet alone, I would have closed down my establishment a long time ago.

"Fortunately, my catering business keeps my restaurant sustainable," said an operator who refused to close down his restaurant business for catering.

"My restaurant serves to be a focal point for customers to discuss about catering," he said.

There are more than 8,000 registered shops and restaurants in Brunei-Muara alone, excluding roadside operations, home-based businesses, direct sellers or special distributors and agents in the Sultanate.

Since the district population is estimated at 247,200 there is therefore one shop or restaurant for every 30.9 people.

This is increasing annually by 10 to 15 per cent and is expected to rise even higher in 2005 due to the opening of many new shopping complexes.

Economic analysts said the country's tourism industry needs to be put in order; otherwise most of the shops and restaurants will not survive.

"We need millions of tourists to arrive here annually to support the shops and restaurants. Otherwise businessmen are just wasting their money by opening them, only to close a few months later. Places like Labuan and Miri depend on tourists for their economic survival," they said.

According to the authorities in Brunei, the biggest portion of SMEs comprises retailers, especially the young and newly established ones.

Construction, manufacturing and real estates are usually handled by much stronger players or non-Bumiputras. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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