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The second Trade Policy Review of Brunei Darussalam has been thorough
and informative and has allowed Members to come to a better
understanding of Brunei's trade and trade-related policies and of the
challenges it faces as it seeks to diversify its economy. I thank Mr.
Dato Lim Jock Hoi and his delegation, as well as the discussant,
Ambassador Marie-Claire Swärd Capra of Sweden, and Members of the TPRB
for contributing to our fruitful exchange of views. The reports by
Brunei and the Secretariat, as well as the detailed responses of the
delegation of Brunei Darussalam to the many questions posed, have
provided a valuable resource for reflection and for transparency
within the WTO.
Brunei is a small, relatively open economy whose prosperity is based
on its abundant petroleum and natural gas resources. However, the
prospect of an eventual depletion of these resources has prompted the
Government to continue pursuing an active industrial policy to
encourage economic diversification particularly to develop downstream
oil and gas activities, financial and business services, hospitality,
and tourism and logistics. Members expressed support for Brunei's
efforts to implement its economic diversification agenda. Noting that
progress has been relatively slow, Members asked whether the
authorities are considering significant policy changes to accelerate
diversification. Questions were also raised about other policies
relating to employment, pricing and fiscal management.
Members welcomed Brunei's commitment to an open, rules-based and
non-discriminatory trading system with relatively low applied MFN
tariffs and no import quotas. They also welcomed Brunei's assurance
that regional arrangements would be complementary to the multilateral
trading system. Regarding the DDA, Members encouraged Brunei to
continue its liberalization efforts to reduce the gap between applied
and bound tariffs on industrial products. Some Members noted that more
work needs to be done on liberalizing the services sector and urged
Brunei to make a comprehensive offer — including on financial and
telecom services — in the Doha Round. In the agri food sector, some
Members sought assurances from Brunei that its Halal certification
programme and import requirements will not become overly burdensome or
more trade-restrictive than necessary.
Several aspects of the trade and investment regime are characterized
by a lack of transparency including the availability of information
about foreign investment policies, the procurement and state trading
activities of state enterprises, the timeliness of WTO notifications
and the coverage of financial and economic statistics. In response,
the Brunei delegation outlined steps being taken to improve the
transparency of government policies and regulations, especially those
pertaining to the strengthening of institutional capacity and meeting
the challenge of human resource restraints. It is clear that such
steps could go a long way to promoting a greater awareness of Brunei's
policies and enhancing its attractiveness as a trade and investment
partner. Members also pointed out that addressing transparency in the
government procurement process — including making procurement
guidelines available and accessible to all potential suppliers in
timely fashion — could improve Brunei's image as a destination for
foreign investment. Given the importance of government entities in
Brunei's economy, Members welcomed the news that Brunei is exploring
membership in the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement.
With respect to intellectual property rights, Brunei has strengthened
its legal framework for IPR protection and is considering accession to
the WIPO Treaties on Copyright and Performances and Phonograms.
However, Members expressed concern about IPR enforcement, which needs
to be more effective to discourage commercial activities that infringe
intellectual property such as optical disk piracy. Some Members noted
that Brunei has to date no legislation on competition although it
appears that it is exploring the possibility of introducing such
legislation in line with APEC principles. Brunei also noted that
competition policies are used on a sectoral basis in
telecommunications, financial services and the oil and gas industry.
In conclusion, I feel that we should congratulate Brunei Darussalam on
maintaining a relatively open trade and investment regime. I think
that we are all aware of certain difficulties Brunei faces in policy
transparency and implementation, but I also note that the delegation
made Brunei's commitment to continued trade and economic reform and to
the WTO very clear. Generally, I think we appreciate that technical
assistance in some areas might ease Brunei's implementation problems.
I think that we also agree that a further liberalization of the trade
regime, including additional GATS commitments, could assist Brunei
both in its efforts to diversify its economy and in its further
integration into the multilateral system, to the benefit of the WTO
Membership in general. We look forward to receiving any remaining
outstanding responses as soon as possible. I would once again like to
thank the Brunei Darussalam delegation for their efforts, the
discussant for her insightful comments, and Members for contributing
to what has been an enlightening two days of discussions.
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