Brunei econ outlook discussed
By Maya Salleh & CT Hj Mahmod

Dato Hj Hamdillah with other guests.	Mr Timothy Ong delivering his opening remarks.
Pehin Dato Hj Awg Zakaria, the Minister of Communications with the event's sponsors. Photos: Rudolf Portillo
Two of the major sponsors of the event discussing during the dialogue.	Mr Marcus Hurry of HSBC listening to the panel discussion.
Panellists at the Asia Inc roundtable dialogue.

More than 60 senior government officials and leading business figures attended a roundtable dialogue on the economic outlook for Brunei Darussalam for the year 2004 yesterday.

The one-day event was organised by Asia Inc at the Empire Hotel and Country Club in the capital.

The dialogue had generated many discussions which are central to the issue of Brunei Darussalam's economic outlook for 2004.

Among the topics discussed were opportunities from e-government, prospects for downstream industries, foreign direct investment, the outlook for the local property market and the need for capital markets.

Special guests in attendance at yesterday's event were Pehin Dato Hj Awg Zakaria bin Datu Mahawangsa Hj Sulaiman, the Minister of Communications and Dato Paduka Hj Yakub bin Abu Bakar, Deputy Minister of Finance.

Mr Timothy Ong who was the convener of the roundtable said the economic outlook for the region in 2004 is positive, despite many uncertainties.

Also present to deliver the keynote address at the luncheon was Dato' Nazir Tun Razak, CEO of Commerce International Merchant Bankers, Malaysia's leading merchant bank. He spoke on the need

for capital market development to finance Brunei's growth at the function.

Dr. Clint Laurent, CEO of Asia Demographic Ltd, also provided a unique demographic perspective on Asian markets.

Corporate partners in the programme are Brunei LNG, TOTAL, HSBC, DST Group, and Bearing Point. The next event in the programme is a National Economic Conference scheduled for June this year.

Asia Inc Forum is a Brunei company that aims to be Asia's leading facilitator of business and public policy dialogue. It was recently appointed international advisor to the APEC CEO Summit 2004 in Chile in November this year. The company is an associate company of The Edge Asia Inc, publisher of Asia Inc magazine and The Edge, Singapore.

Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin