Spanish Mango, Others Eye Brunei
By Sobrina Rosli

Bandar Seri Begawan - A number of Spanish companies including fashion house Mango are exploring the possibility of doing business in Brunei.

In recent years, Spanish companies have been eyeing business ventures in a range of markets from fashion to building materials in the sultanate, according to an official at the Embassy of Spain in Malaysia.

"In the last three years, we have had Spanish companies interested in Brunei," said Antonio Garcia, Spain's economic and commercial counsellor.

Spain's fashion brand, Mango, last year expressed interest in setting up an outlet in Brunei, Garcia said in a phone interview with The Brunei Times.

"There are already 15 Mango retail outlets in Malaysia. There is nothing concrete yet but they did show interest (in Brunei) last year," he said.

Mango was founded in Spain in 1984, and over the past 10 years has been transformed into the second-largest exporter of the Spanish textile sector after Inditex, with shops in 68 countries.

In Asia since 1995, Mango is featured in shops in Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines, India and Singapore. In 2002, the Asian market accounted for 10 per cent of Mango's total global sales, amounting to some US$1.1 billion, up 13 per cent on 2001.

A company marketing Spanish olive oil has also moved to expand its presence in the sultanate.

"The company has already found a distributor for their olive oil products where they have started selling to topnotch Bruneian hotels, such as the The Empire Hotel & Country Club and the Sheraton," Garcia said.

Other business areas being looked into include defence, building materials and supplies for the oil and gas sector. "One of our main areas is the oil and gas sector, such as supplying pipeline equipment for the industry's platforms ... so far the number of Spanish businesses in Brunei is still very little," he added.

In 2006 Spain's exports to Brunei were valued at US$3 million and Spain bought Brunei export goods worth US$40,000.

The top five Spanish products consumed in Brunei are seafood, automobiles, ceramic tiles, aircraft components and machinery.

"Spain is particularly a big exporter to Japanese restaurants as we have very good quality tuna, octopus and squid. This might be related to Brunei's demand for such food," he added. Brunei exports to Spain are mostly textile products.-- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

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