Keynote Speech for The Brunei Shell JV Vendor Forum 2012 By YB ...

I myself have visited more than 50 companies over the last 6 months andto be honest I am able to grasp only some of the issues that our SMEs are facing,especially while looking at these from the companies’ point of view. That is whyI shall continue with these visits. But sometimes I said to myself, business mustbe too good and you don’t have time to see me. Still in the circumstances, I amhappy that you are doing very well.That is also why we are here today. We want to have a good session withthe SMEs – to hear your opinions and to understand your plights. We must lookback to the basic and fundamental issues of how we can grow and sustain ourSMEs.Ladies and Gentlemen,Sustainable economic development is a must have for the future of Brunei.To have a sustainable future, our priority must be on developing ourlocal businesses. This is important for the country’s social and economicdevelopment. A sustainable development rests on our ability to meet three mainpillars i.e. social, economic and environmental goals and objectives. Ourbusinesses must be professionally run and managed, with locals engaged acrossall sections of the companies – doing actual works and not only just mere figureheads or to give the colourful glossary that the companies are truly locals.Therefore ladies and gentlemen, providing real and quality jobs for our peopleis very important.At the recent Job Fair, we registered around 6,000 applicants. This is a bignumber. Some have PhD, degree, HND, OND, A-Levels and O-Levels and thereare those with even lower academic qualifications. That is also why our themefor this vendor forum; Job Creation & Local Content Development within the Brunei4