Sobrina Rosli
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
Tuesday, March 11, 2008 THE adequateness of the budget allocation to be used to promote Brunei was raised at the State Legislative Council meeting yesterday.

YB Pehin Kapitan Lela Diraja Dato Paduka Awang Goh King Chin, a non-governmental member to the council raised several issues, among others the insufficiency of the budget shared out to the Department of Tourism amounting to a meagre $1,543,716.

The member stressed the need to change mindset and exert efforts to alter the trend of oil and gas dependency in the country.

He suggested the development of a sustainable tourism industry can support various economic activities in the country, this he says has proven successful in some countries.

Pressing on the insufficient amount of the tourism budget, he said that it was not enough to promote Brunei internationally on a large scale.

This includes the collaboration with other media agencies such as the CNN, BBC, ESPN and Star Sports to organise international sports events such as golf and tennis while promoting Brunei.

He highlighted the way towards this would require larger sums of budget allocation.

Another concerned raised was the state of the road from Tutong to the Belait district. The member said that the road was inadequate and there was a possibility of untoward incidents involving drivers and commuters.

The first part of the road from the Tutong district is two-laned, further down the middle it becomes one lane, towards reaching the Belait district, the road breaks again to two lanes.

This he says is a concern adding it may pose dangers and test the patience of drivers.

In relation to this, he also highlighted the importance of an adequate road system as the area is not only known for its oil and gas industry but is also to be considered for the development of a methanol industry in the near future.

Bringing a land issue into the dialogue, the member noted the approval of the "Strata title" but questioned when it would be used in effect in Brunei's land system. "Strata title" is a devised form of ownership.

In the State Legislative Council Meeting held last year the member raised two issues, whereby this year he raised them again to investigate developments.

Firstly was the eligibility for permanent residents to purchase a home, secondly was the development of a flyover in the capital near the Chung Hwa secondary school in the capital to ensure the safety of the school children and ease traffic congestion.

Considerations towards the "Strata title" and the eligibility of purchasing homes among permanent residents will increase the prices of land and buildings, boosting the country's economy.

Courtesy of The Brunei Times

By Azlan Othman

About $1.54 million was allocated for the tourism budget in the 2008-2009 financial year, which recorded a 12.8 per cent growth in 2007 with 178,000 tourists visiting the Sultanate last year.

This was revealed by Minister of Industry and Primary Resources (MIPR), YB Pehin Orang Kaya Setia Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Dr Awg Hj Ahmad, at the legislative council session which entered its sixth day yesterday.

However, YB Pehin Kapitan Lela Diraja Dato Paduka Awg Goh King Chin said the budget is not enough to promote Brunei tourism, including sports, globally like advertising which he proposed, in the CNN, BBC, ESPN and Star Sports.

The issues raised by members yesterday morning focused on the departments under the MIPR. The Minister also highlighted the responsibility of the public themselves in assisting in the tourism campaign.

"In Brunei, based on the statistics of tourist arrivals (178,000) against the population (391,000), shows that one tourist is looked after by 1.5 people compared to Singapore where there is one tourist for every 2.5 people. 10 million tourists visited Singapore which has a population of four million. In Malaysia, there is one tourist for every 1.5 people", he added.

Responding to a question from YB Dato Paduka Hj Idris, the Minister said tourism last year contributed about $328 million to the Gross Domestic Product (KDNK) in 2007 compared to $275 million in 2004.

The Minister also revealed that there are plans to improve the Ulu Temburong National Park and UBD field studies and research centre, but said there is no plan to set up a golf course in Temburong as proposed by Temburong legislative member, YB Hj Sulaiman Hj Ahad. Currently, there are 44 chalets under the jurisdiction of the Forestry Department at the park.

The Minister also said that BSP Sdn Bhd also plans to make "sky scaffolding" at Sg Liang Recreational Park like those at the Ulu Temburong national park. Sg Liang park received about 23,000 tourists two years ago but the number of visitors dropped at Sg Lalak recreational park.

Asked about the follow-up action made by the Minister himself and officials from his ministry after their visits to the plantations together with the people which was also touched on by His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam at the opening of the session last week, which was raised by YB Hj Sulaiman Ahad, the Minister said the visits were part of their tasks where assessment was later made by the heads of department on actions taken and whether they were satisfied or otherwise with the developments.

On the microbe project under the Heart of Borneo between MIPR and Japanese National Institute of Technology and Evaluation (NITE) and our rights if such a project is accepted worldwide as well as the issue of sustainable development as raised by YB Dato Paduka Hj Idris, the Minister said there is a biodiversity centre in Sg Liang under an eight-year plan and the MoU between Forestry and NITE is still in the process, so too is the legal framework.

On the need to inform the public about the Heart of Borneo (HoB) project's implementation, objectives and control as inquired by YB Dato Paduka Hj Puasa, the Minister said that the policy has been agreed upon by the three Borneo countries, while the consultation report to implement it is now under discussion. Meetings have been held in Brunei, Jakarta and soon in Kuching.

A council will be established, subject to the three leaders' approval from Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia. "We have no problem on this. We are just awaiting the decision made by the central governments of Malaysia and Indonesia," he said.

The approved 2008-2009 budget of MIPR yesterday include for the Ministry itself which stands at $13,985,720.00, Forestry ($8,203,095.00), Fisheries ($8,398,708.00), Agriculture ($29,550,791.00), Brunei Industrial Development Authority, BINA ($3,940,816.00) and Department of Tourism Development ($1,543,716.00).

Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin, March 11, 2008

Syed Rory Malai Hassan
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

Monday, March 10, 2008

SOME businessmen have lauded the government's recent decision to lower the corporate income tax (see chart on the right), while others said that it is still early to assess the effect on businesses in the country.

"Of course in the long run lower income tax means more money into our pockets," said Brian Sim of Shariff Auto Services.

"We do pay corporate tax, but as far as the rates are concerned, I was not really aware of it being lowered for this year or the next," he added.

Several companies when contacted regarding the new rates, said that there is insufficient information regarding the issue and not many are aware of it being introduced.

Other entrepreneurs said that corporate income tax only affects business that are registered as Sendirian Berhad but sole proprietors or private limited companies are not affected.

Robin Leong of Growing Star said that the corporate tax rate his company currently pays is reasonable when compared to other countries.

There should be more interesting competition to look forward to as this would attract more companies to set up business here in Brunei, with the introduction of new rates.

"Reduced income tax rates means more money for us to invest back into our companies," he said, adding that this will allow for more development, as the new rates will give them the opportunity to add more money into their company budget.

"One good thing about the reduced corporate taxes is that it will possibly encourage sole proprietor companies to become limited companies as this will help protect their businesses from liabilities," said another entrepreneur.

During the State Legislative Council meeting, the Second Minister of Finance declared that it will lower its business tax in stages, from the current 30 per cent to a projected 27.5 per cent this year and 25 per cent for next year in a bid to boost local small and medium enterprises and attract foreign investors.

It is also hoped that the new rates would eventually accelerate Brunei's economy through the private sector.

Among Asean countries, the newly-introduced rates for Brunei brings it closer to Malaysia but lower than Thailand and Indonesia which had shared the same rates as Brunei last year.

Malaysia and China have set their corporate income tax rates below 30 per cent with stages of slight reductions in the works for the next few years. Singapore and Hong Kong have the lowest tax rates for start up companies, starting from 18 per cent for Singapore and 16.5 per cent for Hong Kong.

These tax reductions are strategies for governments of each country to attract more foreign investors and provide a more conducive environment for business start-ups.

Courtesy of The Brunei Times