Bandar Seri Begawan - With most of the high-level delegations expected to arrive in Singapore today for the start of the 21st Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Ministerial Meeting that is scheduled to begin on Wednesday, many among them will be seeking to find tangible measures to further encourage economic recovery. But for Brunei Darussalam, does its participation in the prominent grouping really translate into an equal tangible benefits for its own private sector?

"Yes. Most definitely," replied Allen Lai, Director of Asialnc Forum, in an interview with the Borneo Bulletin at the city-state of Singapore, which plays host to this year's Apec Summit.

"Aside from Asialnc Forum, there is another local company, MixedMedia Works that was commissioned by the Singapore Business Federation to design the logo for this year's Apec CEO Summit. These two examples bear tangible proof that Brunei can do something significant at an international level, where we believe that we can provide value-added services. But what's most important is that we have to try."

Being the smallest member of the 21 economies, Brunei has the lowest population base, its GDP is also the second lowest at US$12.3 billion after Papua New Guinea with US$6 billion, but the sixth highest in terms of GDP per capita just between Japan and New Zealand and has the lowest trade volume out of the 21 member economies. On paper, these statistics hardly justify Brunei's participation and involvement in the regional grouping and for some observers, even denotes the country as a backseat passenger.

"I wouldn't agree with that. Brunei does play an active involvement. For instance, His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam has been to every leaders' summit since 1993, is in fact the longest-serving leader in Apec, which shows a strong commitment to Apec," replied the Asialnc director.

"Another area that illustrates this is in the country's participation of the P4 agreement, or is also known as the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement (TPP), which is an area of growing interest that started off with just four member economies - Brunei, Chile, New Zealand and Singapore - with Australia, Vietnam and Peru, joining the TPP in November last year and possibly including the United States. I know that Dato Lim Jock Hoi, Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has been very active in promoting Brunei in these trade discussions."

Improving employment opportunities is one of the key factors that have been identified for generating more inclusive growth that will be addressed by the delegates and world leaders. Other member economies maximise the mileage of the annual Apec summit by bringing in trade representatives to network and seek investment opportunities. But is this trend being followed by Brunei?

"It is a very competitive market out there right now. Our business community needs to come to these gatherings and involve themselves by using the opportunity to network with potential investors. Only by doing this will they be able to generate more interest for foreign investors to come to Brunei to invest," replied the Asialnc director, adding: "The annual CEO summit is a very good platform to attract investment and many other economies are using this platform just to do that. For example, the President of Vietnam will be meeting with the CEO of Siemens for exactly this reason, as is the President of Indonesia. You have to be proactive. What most people don't see is that behind the scenes there is a lot of breakfast meetings and networking sessions where opportunities are seized and made."

But when asked of whether local Bruneian companies are following suit, he replied, "Bruneian companies are starting to show more interest in exploring these opportunities. For instance, this year, we have 10 companies participating in the CEO summit, which is the most participation we've had so far. It's an encouraging sign, but they have to come. They have to get engaged."

As the main organisers of the Apec CEO Summit, Asialnc Forum has successfully organised other previous summits in Brunei, Bangkok, Chile, Peru, Vietnam and this year in Singapore. At a time when the organisation will be celebrating its 20th anniversary as one of the main highlights of Apec Singapore, we asked the director what his views were for Apec for the next 20 years.

"Apec is a very good platform for two things. For bringing the region together and for bringing the mixed communities of different languages, mindsets and attitudes together, which have very different economic status. I know that Apec has been getting some negative press by falling short of its Bogor goals but all in all, over the next 20 years, I think that it is travelling in the right direction."

Following on from that, observers and critics alike have also questioned Apec's relevancy in the growing international calls for structural reforms of international associations, as witnessed during the G-20 and Asean meetings this year. Similar sentiments have also been aired that this would be echoed during the ministerial and leaders proceedings in Singapore.

"That's an interesting question because President Lee of South Korea, which hosts the next G-20 chairmanship, said that Apec is indeed an interesting and unique platform. Nine of the Apec members -Australia, Canada, China, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Russia, South Korea and the US - are also members of the G-20, out of which, only Indonesia is a member of Asean. So it is something that we must watch out for whether the G-20 or Apec is more relevant and appropriate for the members to themselves decide. Apec is a very strong community and the G-20 is not a threat to Apec," commented Allen Lai.

So what were his hopes for this year's outstanding achievement in Apec Singapore? "When we (Asialnc Forum) were first engaged by the Singapore government to organise this year's Apec CEO Summit way back in March, most of the member economies were still surviving through a tough, gloomy time on a day-to-day basis and could not even forecast what November would be like. But fortunately, strong supporters of Apec and the CEO Summit such as HSBC and DHL agreed to lend their support and this somehow snowballed to the response that we have now - more than 1,500 participants, 1,200 delegates, 72 major key speakers and 15 of the Apec leaders - which I believe in some way is helping the global economy recover to see blue skies again," assured the director. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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