US Envoy Highlights Brunei Partnership In Meeting Challenges
By Sonia K

Bandar Seri Begawan - The US Ambassador to Brunei Darussalam, Emil Skodon, yesterday spoke of how over the past year, the US and Brunei have worked closely together to meet many global challenges and our striking partnership.

He made these remarks in his welcoming speech during a reception to mark the 23rd Anniversary of American Independence held at the Empire Hotel and Country Club, where the guest of honour was the Minister of Industry and Primary Resources, Pehin Dato Dr Haji Awang Ahmad bin Haji Jumat.

The US Ambassador pointed out that the US and Brunei trade and investment relationship reached new heights in the past year. "In a case recently announced, the intention of Royal Brunei Airlines to acquire the most advanced civil aircraft ever produced by the Boeing Company, the 787 Dreamliner, and also in more down-to-earth fashion steps such as the government's engagement of an American company to help develop Brunei's aquaculture industry," he informed the guests at the reception.

He also provided further examples where Brunei and the US have worked together such as when the US Agency for International Development and Brunei's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade have worked together in the Indonesian province of Aceh to provide housing and infrastructure to villages destroyed by the 2004 tsunami, in a joint project valued at USS3 million, and the US support in the Heart of Borneo initiative as one of the first outside donors.

"Cooperation between the America and Brunei militaries helped underpin the security of Southeast Asia," he said. He added that, "A broad and productive programme of security cooperation involved high-level visits, including one to the US by the Deputy Minister of

Defence, training and exchanges, and even an exchange of helicopter crews that brought Brunei Blackhawk pilots to Alaska to fly with the Alaska National Guard."

The US Ambassador also spoke of the law enforcement cooperation between the two countries as well as opportunities of education to study in American universities.

"The Fulbright Scholarship programme also continues, and I am pleased to announce that this year's Fulbright has just been awarded to Zul Fakhri Maidy, senior journalist at the Borneo Bulletin, who will pursue a Master's Degree in Journalism at the University of Missouri," he said.

The event started with the national anthems of both Brunei Darussalam and the US, followed by welcoming remarks by the US Ambassador and the cutting of the US Independence Day cake.

The interesting US Independence Day reception displayed the artwork of Date Shofry of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, which he painted when he served in New York as Brunei's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, capturing the essence of American life, from the streets of New York City to the farms of the countryside.

Photographs taken by the US Embassy staff in Brunei that captured the variety of America from the cities and towns, monuments and markets, as well as forests from the East Coast to Hawaii were also displayed.  -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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