MoU To Boost Brunei's Agribusiness Sector
By Khairunnisa Ibrahim

Bandar Seri Begawan - The Department of Agriculture yesterday commissioned the services of an international development consultancy firm, Agrodev Canada, to achieve its vision of transforming the domestic agriculture sector into a market-driven agri-business.

The firm, in collaboration with Sacammas Sdn Bhd, a leading local distributing company for scientific and chemical products and services, will be engaged in a project to analyse existing incentive programs and formulate new ones.

The contract signing ceremony for the New Agricultural and Agribusiness Incentive Programs for Brunei Darussalam project took place at the Department of Agriculture headquarters.

Signing on behalf of the Agriculture department was its acting director, Normah Suria Hayati PJDSMDSU Dr Awang Mohd Jamil al-Sufri, while the Canadian-based company was represented by its Project Manager, Neal Carter.

Present to witness the signing was the Acting Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources, Pg Mariana PDNLDR Pg Abdul Momin.

The signing was followed by a presentation by the Agrodev project manager on the details of the project, including its background, context, goals and timeline.

Carter pointed out that the ever-changing global market for agri-and food-products, as well as the low self-sufficiency of the domestic agriculture sector, necessitated the assessment of existing incentive programs.

He also said that the programs had not taken into consideration human resource requirements, impact on quality of life and eventual self-reliance.

In addition, analyses of the department's programs would help identify and develop niche export-oriented products such as halal products, which the project manager recognised as one of the sultanate's focal strategies in promoting the economy.

The Agriculture Department hopes that the project would evaluate the effectiveness, efficiency and appropriateness of its current programs to meet national and the department's objectives, and to formulate new incentive programs.

The current programs were designed to enhance the agrobased processing sector, to attract more private sector involvement in agribusiness and in general to meet the country's economic diversification goal.

Agrodev has conducted several projects for the Department of Agriculture since 1998, the latest of which was completed in 2004.

The project, which will be carried out in three phases, is expected to be initiated this month and completed by June 2007 with the handing over of the final report. -- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

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