Answer to Oral Question PL233

QUESTION

Yang Berhormat Pehin Orang Kaya Laila Setia Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Abd. Rahman bin Haji Ibrahim

YANG BERHORMAT PEHIN ORANG KAYA LAILA SETIA DATO SERI SETIA AWANG HAJI ABD. RAHMAN BIN HAJI IBRAHIM asks Yang Berhormat Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri dan Menteri Kewangan dan Ekonomi II to state what are the Ministry’s future steps to improve this business ecosystem so that it is more conducive and business-friendly, in order to facilitate businesses to grow and progress? In meetings with the Business Community, one of the main challenges raised was regarding a business ecosystem that is less conducive and less pro-business, especially in relation to the process of obtaining approvals, which affects the development of local MSMEs.

ANSWER

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

Thank you Yang Berhormat Yang Di-Pertua.

Thank you also for the question from Yang Berhormat Pehin Orang Kaya Laila Setia regarding the Government’s future steps to improve the business ecosystem so that it will be more conducive and business-friendly.

The Ministry of Finance and Economy, through the Industry and Business Ecosystem Division (IBE), as the Government’s lead agency in efforts to coordinate ease of doing business initiatives in this country, continuously strives to work hand in hand with other Government agencies in fostering a more vibrant local business environment.

Based on the Economic Blueprint as guiding principles and policies, the IBE has prepared and supported industry roadmaps to further drive the development of local businesses and industries. Among the industry roadmaps that have been prepared are the Downstream Oil and Gas Industry Roadmap; Food Industry Roadmap; Services Maritime Industry Roadmap; and several other industry roadmaps that are still in the phase of preparation and review by the Ministry.

This Ministry continuously works closely with Government agencies and other stakeholders to support the implementation of the Industry Roadmaps, which will help address on-the-ground issues and challenges experienced by the private sector, towards improving the local business regulatory climate guided by a Whole-of-Nation approach and implemented collectively by Government departments and agencies.

The Ministry of Finance and Economy also continues to monitor the progress of planned reforms and provide support to agencies in implementing improvements to the business ecosystem in the country.

At the same time, the Ministry always works closely with stakeholders in the private sector to ensure that the formulation of legislation and policies is directed towards regional and global best practices and is also aligned with the values of Negara Brunei Darussalam and the business needs in this country, as well as to ensure that the implementation of related action plans can be carried out effectively and can be fully felt by the public;

Efforts are also being intensified to speed up and reduce the duration of Government processes through more effective coordination of procedures. Meanwhile, to further streamline ease of doing business efforts in this country, the implementation and enhancement of online systems to expand services and facilitate manual processes in Government agencies such as the electronic submission of applications and online payments will also be improved. In addition, this Ministry also plans to further expand the scope of publicising reforms and initiatives by involving two-way feedback with businesses and other stakeholders.

To enable the Ministry to better plan the necessary improvement efforts, the Ministry through the IBE Division also conducts company visits from various industries including construction, food and beverage, logistics, online business, retail, as well as corporate service providers to gather more feedback and data regarding reforms and the business environment in general.

With feedback from those company visits, the IBE Division will liaise with Champion Groups regarding issues of legislation, processes or the level of customer service provided by staff and will help identify the best strategies to improve their respective processes and internal relations to ensure that TPOR and customer satisfaction can be achieved.

In addition, as part of efforts towards a pro-business approach, discussions with the Management Services Department (MSD) have also been held to discuss the direction for improving business processes and to focus greater attention on the efficiency of every process implemented.

The IBE Division has also taken steps to hold engagement sessions with other Government agencies to present the initiatives that will be implemented for business process improvements. In addition, the IBE Division as the MSME policy-making party, also attends engagement sessions organised by BEDB as one of the efforts in developing a conducive business ecosystem, as well as obtaining feedback from relevant agencies with the aim of ensuring that policies to be introduced will be able to support business growth in Negara Brunei Darussalam.

For the information of Your Honourable Members, through the Brunei Economic Development Board (BEDB), this Ministry also remains committed to supporting efforts to improve the business ecosystem so that it is more business-friendly and responsive to the current needs of the business world through strengthening the role of the Business Helpdesk as the first point of contact in coordinating business challenges faced by local MSMEs and FDI entrepreneur companies in NBD, as well as facilitating feedback channels between the business sector and Government agencies.

In addition, BEDB greatly welcomes close cooperation from Government agencies in identifying challenges faced by businesses, including pain points experienced by local MSMEs and FDI companies when dealing with the relevant parties. BEDB also manages various public-private dialogue platforms such as the MSME Roundtable Series and BEDB Engagement Series which are hoped will contribute towards continuous improvements in the policies and procedures of Government agencies.

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