India Willing To Cut Duty On Brunei Oil
By Azlan Othrnan

Bandar Seri Begawan - India has no problem in cutting oil and gas import duties which Brunei has been asking for as part of the proposed India-Asean Free Trade Agreement (FTA), the Indian High Commissioner told the Bulletin yesterday.

Riewad V Warjri (Rudi) said under the FTA discussions, as far as Brunei is concerned, India has no problem at all and Brunei is very supportive of the FTA reduction.

"We still have issues with other Asean countries with respect to the FTA. India is already considering minimising such import duty. It was highlighted at the last AseanIndia Summit held in Singapore last year."

Highlighting the IT sector, he said it is a major sector and "an MoU has been ready For quite sometime. The expectation for the cooperation in this area is enormous".

"Brunei is embarking on its e-government project and delegations at various levels from Brunei have visited India to locate and identify correct parties in India to participate (in the project) and we are going to have intensive and extensive cooperation in this field."

On bilateral trade between Brunei and India, he said, in 2006 it stood at US$500 million dollars with oil imports from Brunei accounting for about US$300 million. Brunei imports rice, tea, granite stones and textiles from India.

"Obviously, India is looking for more expansion in trade. But we have to solve problems like shipping as goods from India come to Brunei via Malaysia. We are now negotiating on a proper framework on shipping and ports. On trade itself, we are going to form a trade committee where the signing will be held sooner or later.

"What really have the potential is pharmaceutical products in terms of quality and price wise. More than 50 per cent of the doctors employed in the government hospitals come from India. Expertise in laboratory, scientific research and development could also be another area."

In the context of Asean and India, he said, besides the FTA, Brunei has been supportive of the inclusion of India as a full dialogue partner in the regional grouping. Brunei also gives its recognition to India's Look East Policy.

In the last Asean-India summit, there was a proposal - which Asean agreed to -on restoring the Nalanda university project. Nalanda University is the oldest university in India.

Meanwhile, His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam is scheduled to visit India later this month, according to a report from the IANS news agency. This will be the first visit by His Majesty to India in over a decade, IANS said.-- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

Click Here To Have Your Say On This Story

Brudirect.com News

Brunei's Fastest Growing Website with