Answers for Oral Questions PL188, PL189 & PL190

QUESTION

Yang Berhormat Dayang Hajah Safiah binti Sheikh Haji Abd. Salam

YANG BERHORMAT DAYANG HAJAH SAFIAH BINTI SHEIKH HAJI ABD. SALAM asks MENTERI DI JABATAN PERDANA MENTERI DAN MENTERI KEWANGAN DAN EKONOMI II to state the Ministry’s position regarding the integration of the Government Vendor Portal (GVP) platform with Bruneian Made to optimise its effectiveness and the proposal to establish a purchasing monitoring dashboard for agencies, to ensure that local vendors and entrepreneurs are given priority in purchases carried out by government agencies as an important step in strengthening a sustainable and competitive national economy?

YANG BERHORMAT DAYANG HAJAH SAFIAH BINTI SHEIKH HAJI ABD. SALAM asks MENTERI DI JABATAN PERDANA MENTERI DAN MENTERI KEWANGAN DAN EKONOMI II to state when the Ministry will set conditions for low- and medium-complexity tenders, such as school transport services and the supply of work uniforms, to be awarded only to legitimately owned companies fully operated by Brunei citizens? The establishment of a Standing Council is also proposed to monitor actual ownership and operations, compliance with conditions, and to carry out enforcement and action against violations?

YANG BERHORMAT DAYANG HAJAH SAFIAH BINTI SHEIKH HAJI ABD. SALAM asks MENTERI DI JABATAN PERDANA MENTERI DAN MENTERI KEWANGAN DAN EKONOMI II to state what steps the Ministry is taking to ensure the use of MSME products and services as a standing policy in official government and private sector events? This includes aspects such as catering, souvenirs, and performance attire. Its implementation is also recommended to Brunei Embassies and Representatives abroad, in order to enhance growth, strengthen cash flow, employment opportunities and the branding of local products in the global market.

ANSWER

Yang Berhormat Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri dan Menteri Kewangan dan Ekonomi II

Yang Berhormat Yang Di-Pertua,

Questions PL188, PL189 and PL190 are closely related.

Kaola would like to express gratitude for the questions from Yang Berhormat Dayang Hajah Safiah binti Sheikh Haji Abd. Salam.

Yang Berhormat Yang Di-Pertua, allow kaola first to share that the Government Procurement Policy is based on several factors. These include ensuring that procurement is carried out at a reasonable price, without wastage and according to the requirements of the respective Ministries and Departments; Accountable; Transparent; Fair; and conducted through Open Competition, and with full responsibility.

In principle, all Government expenditure exceeding BND50,000.00 must be carried out through open tender, that is, any company that meets the requirements to participate in the tender is allowed to join the relevant tenders. This is also to ensure that a fair and transparent process is carried out. However, Ministries and Departments are allowed to set certain criteria, for example criteria that can provide support to local entrepreneurs. This includes, for example, stipulating conditions for tenders to be opened only to Brunei Citizen companies or to companies with 80% local employees.

First, regarding question PL189,

in relation to low- and medium-complexity tenders being awarded only to legitimately owned companies fully operated by Brunei citizens. Before considering such a policy, it is necessary to examine whether local companies have the expertise and capacity required to carry out the project. Otherwise, this will affect the implementation of the required project or service. For example, in the supply of work uniforms, the involvement of Brunei citizen entrepreneurs may still not be widespread.

Nevertheless, for school transport services, in the tender requirements of the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Religious Affairs, conditions have been included for tenders to be opened to registered companies comprising citizens of Kebawah Duli Yang Maha Mulia Paduka Seri baginda Sultan dan Yang Di-Pertuan Negara Brunei Darussalam.

Next, regarding question PL188,

concerning the proposal submitted on the integration between the Government Vendor Portal (GVP) under the Treasury Department and the Bruneian Made platform under the Brunei Economic Development Board (BEDB), the Ministry of Finance and Economy welcomes this proposal to facilitate the search for local suppliers and also the coordination of data to monitor the development of local entrepreneurs.

For the information of Yang Berhormat and Your Honourable Members, the Government Vendor Portal is a module for suppliers to register and submit payment claims (invoices) for any services or supplies that have been carried out for the payment process. At present, to ensure a fair and transparent process, all advertised tenders and purchases are made openly. However, Ministries and Departments are allowed to set certain criteria, for example criteria that can support local entrepreneurs. This includes, for example, stipulating conditions for tenders to be opened only to bumiputera companies or to companies with 80% local employees.

Meanwhile, Bruneian Made is a platform under BEDB to promote products of local companies and market them through the Bruneian Made Hub, located at Rizqun International Hotel, and the Bruneian Made Shelf found in several major supermarkets in this country.

This is different from GVP, which focuses on payments from the Government to businesses (G2B).

Furthermore, the Ministry of Finance and Economy also welcomes the proposal to establish a dashboard to monitor agency purchases. With such close monitoring, the Government will be able to further enhance transparency and provide analytical reports to support improvements to the Government procurement policy. The available data can also serve as a basis to demonstrate the marketability of local entrepreneurs and highlight them for large-scale and high-value projects.

With regard to monitoring company ownership and operations in this country, kaola is also pleased to share that the Ministry of Finance and Economy, through the Registry of Companies and Business Names Division (ROCBN), has also shared access and supplied relevant information to the relevant parties, including the State Tender Board and the Small Tenders Board, to facilitate the process of evaluating and verifying companies participating in Government tenders and procurement. In addition, under the One Common Portal platform, any party may also obtain information on registered company owners and business names.

Lastly, regarding question PL190,

Regarding efforts to further increase the participation of local enterprises, especially MSMEs, in the country’s economic activities, several initiatives, including through the provision of digital platforms, have already been made available:

• DARe Links is a B2B (business-to-business) portal developed by BEDB. It offers opportunities for the supply of goods and services by local MSMEs, such as catering, souvenirs, logistics, cleaning services, maintenance and so on, to Government agencies and commercial companies, including Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) companies, government-linked companies (GLCs) and multinational corporations (MNCs).

• As kaola shared earlier, BEDB also promotes and showcases local products and services through the Bruneian Made Hub platform. Since that platform was launched in 2023, BEDB has found a significant increase in demand for products sold as corporate gifts for various government agencies, government-linked companies (GLCs), as well as embassies and foreign representatives.

• Darussalam Assets (DA) has also launched the procure.bn platform, which hosts a supplier directory that can be publicly accessed and showcases local supplier companies to promote each company’s enterprise and to encourage business opportunities on a business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) basis. In November 2024, Phase 1 had already been launched with the onboarding of more than 700 supplier companies and 12 companies under the DA Group of Companies.

Meanwhile, with regard to efforts to increase the use of MSME products and services abroad, BEDB is also actively collaborating with the diplomatic missions of Negara Brunei Darussalam overseas. For example, on 25 February, BEDB collaborated with the NBD embassy in Japan and the ASEAN-Japan Centre (AJC) to organise a capacity development workshop on Packaging Design and Labelling in Brunei with the participation of more than 40 local MSMEs interested in entering the Japanese market. In addition, in March 2025, BEDB also facilitated the participation of 5 local MSMEs in the Kyoto International Gift Show (KIGS).

That is all, thank you Yang Berhormat Yang Di-Pertua.