Bandar Seri Begawan - The Minister of Finance II at the Prime Minister's Office, YB Pehin Orang Kaya Laila Setia Dato Seri Setia Awg Hj Abdul Rahman bin Hj Ibrahim, stated yesterday in the 9th LegCo Meeting that the budget estimation for the Ministry of Defence (MinDef) and departments under it for the year 2013/2014 is $516,380,670.

This shows an increase of $3,270,900 compared to last year's approved budget, where a big sum of the budget estimation comprised salary payments at 59 per cent, followed by annual recurring spending of 30 per cent, and other payments as well as a special expenditure of nine per cent.

"In line with the 2011 Defence White Paper and Strategic Planning 2012, the Ministry of Defence hopes to continue increasing the abilities of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces (RBAF) from time to time, whereby projects have been carried out where the Army Development Department at the Ministry of Defence holds the responsibility to continuously identify defence necessities," stated the minister.

Human resource development has also been part of the Ministry of Defence's efforts in ensuring better organisation and complying with current needs, especially courses organised by the RBAF Academy, including other efforts to search for methods to increase efficiency in defence management and procurements, such as outsourcing and public-private partnerships.

These efforts, said the minister, are not new but are actually the Ministry of Defence's continuous efforts to ensure that the benefits can be enjoyed by other sectors, especially given the economy and private sector. Finally, to ensure that expenditures do not exceed the approved allocations, the ministry practices prudence in spending and ensure corporate governance such as institutionalising performance budgeting method and accountability of every entrusted officer or sub-board holders which will be monitored from time to time.