Brunei's Local News - Brudirect.com

Bandar Seri Begawan - Citizens and residents of Brunei Darussalam have been urged to support local products in order to move and enhance the country's small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

Matusin Orang Kaya Sura Hj Tuba, the Acting District Officer of Temburong, said at at the launch of the Livewire SME Promotion Weekend at Bumiputera Complex in Bangar yesterday, "We should be proud, our SMEs are strong, wilful and creative and they want to succeed in their business.

"It is up to us the consumers to decide on whether we support locally made products or others. The SMEs face limited chances to promote their products and this event is an example of how we can bring them up into the spotlight locally and internationally."

Matusin further said, "efforts to support the SMEs

must be increased, red tapes reduced and time for approval shortened in order for them to achieve sustainability in this current fast paced environment."

"Support from the private sector is crucial as well to ensure competitiveness and marketibility of our local products and Livewire has been proven to be a key player in supporting this. Youths and veterans alike have taken the initiative and began their first step into the markets after attending Livewire and I congratulate them for their courage," said the acting officer in his closing remarks.

The SME promotion weekend event was the brainchild of Livewire and the Temburong District Office in introducing locally made products to the Temburong community. With a weekend packed with a science fair from the Oil and Gas Dis covery Center (OGDC), karaoke, movies, bazaars, and a futsal competition, this event is likely to become one of the main highlights of Temburong's list of annual events.

The Directory to Temburong's Products and Services was also released during the event to guide other SMEs and the general public to the diverse culture and products Temburong has to offer.

Steven Song, a business counsellor from LiveWire said, "The whole point of this event is to promote SMEs from Temburong and Brunei Muara to interact amongst each other for business opportunities and also to showcase the qualities of locally made products. "The Temburong community has shown much more enthusiasm on Livewire and the SMEs products compared to other districts. The main SMEs attending the event mostly hail from the Brunei Muara District but this year Temburong's own SMEs have shown much improvement and are taking over the limelight slowly," he said.

He added that there are much improvements to be made especially on feedbacks from the elder SMEs as most of the participants in Livewire workshops in Temburong are mainly youths.

He also said that in the next showcase, Livewire will highlight Temburong-made products and SMEs to other districts. -- Courtesy of The Brunei Times