Answer to Oral Question PL218

QUESTION

Yang Berhormat Pehin Orang Kaya Johan Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Adanan bin Begawan Pehin Siraja Khatib Dato Seri Setia Haji Md. Yusof

YANG BERHORMAT PEHIN ORANG KAYA JOHAN PAHLAWAN DATO SERI SETIA AWANG HAJI ADANAN BIN BEGAWAN PEHIN SIRAJA KHATIB DATO SERI SETIA HAJI MD. YUSOF asks YANG BERHORMAT Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri dan Menteri Kewangan dan Ekonomi II to state what approaches have been implemented to assist and develop businesses that face difficulties in obtaining financing. Are there also success stories that can be shared arising from significant bank contributions to the development of the country's MSME sector? Considering that among MSME entrepreneurs, especially start-up businesses among youths, it is difficult to obtain financial loans from Bank Usahawan.

ANSWER

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

Thank you Yang Berhormat Yang Di-Pertua, Kaola would like to express thanks for the question from Yang Berhormat Pehin Orang Kaya Johan Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Adanan bin Begawan Pehin Siraja Khatib Dato Seri Setia Haji Md. Yusof.

In ensuring that micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in this country can continue to grow and progress, the Ministry of Finance and Economy through the Brunei Economic Development Board (BEDB) also provides financing support through initiatives such as the co-matching scheme, and also in terms of Bank Financing Facilitation, where BEDB assists in streamlining financial financing applications, while facilitating discussions between applicants and the financial institutions involved.

As a result of these schemes, BEDB has already seen several companies that have been able to record good improvement achievements, among others those involved in the food cluster. For example, one company that received the co-matching scheme has successfully increased its income by 429% from 2020 to 2025 and has been able to open new branches and also export their products to the Republic of Singapore and the Republic of the Philippines. The company also succeeded in winning the Proudly Brunei Business Awards (PBBA) organised by BEDB in 2024. There is also an example of a company involved in the aquaculture sector that has successfully expanded its operations to manage as many as 350 sea cages in 2024, after receiving a grant from the co-matching scheme in 2023. This has shown the positive impact of the assistance provided by BEDB to MSME development in our country.

In addition, BEDB also provides business guidance through financial literacy training such as Financial Practice for MSMEs, Financial Education for Entrepreneurs, Financial Statement Analysis and Financial Bookkeeping. Since 2016, more than 200 sessions have been conducted to strengthen the level of financial literacy among local businesses in Brunei Darussalam.

BEDB also works closely with local financial institutions in strengthening and further expanding inclusive financing channels.

Apart from providing financing products, Bank Usahawan is also active in supporting the capacity development of entrepreneurs through advisory services such as Financial Literacy Training, Accounting Training and Business Skills, and also works closely with educational institutions in this country such as UNISSA, IBTE and Politeknik Brunei as well as stakeholders such as BEDB. This will help ensure that all MSMEs, regardless of background, are able to have fair access to financing and growth opportunities.

In addition, other institutions such as Brunei Darussalam Central Bank (BDCB) also play an important role, particularly in terms of providing a conducive financial infrastructure to further facilitate access to financing for MSMEs. Among these, the Credit Bureau System (2012), Collateral Registry (2016), and Credit Score (2018) were introduced to support access to financing, particularly for MSMEs, through more objective credit assessments, the use of movable asset collateral, as well as increased confidence of financial institutions in borrowers' credit profiles.

Finally, one institution that plays an important role in the financing ecosystem for MSMEs is Bank Usahawan, and this matter has already been explained in detail by Yang Berhormat Menteri Kebudayaan, Belia dan Sukan as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Bank Usahawan Berhad during the Oral Question session PL241 on 7 August 2025.

That is all. Thank you Yang Berhormat Yang Di-Pertua.