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Borneo Bulletin Yearbook 2021
BRUNEI ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT BOARD
The Brunei Economic Development Board (BEDB)
is a statutory board that seeks to diversify Brunei
Darussalam’s economy and promote the country
as the preferred investment destination.
In order to achieve this, BEDB focusses on
developing export-oriented industries and
spinoff opportunities for local businesses, while
acting as a frontline agency to facilitate foreign
direct investments (FDIs).
BEDB works closely with investors to understand
their business needs. Among its services are
providing information on the local investment
climate, developmental requirements, laws and
regulations, cost of doing business and project
speci c information.
In terms of investment opportunities, there are
ve key areas recognised by BEDB: downstream
oil and gas, manufacturing and other services,
food, tourism, and info-communications
technology.
Facilitating foreign investment into
the country
With the establishment of the Foreign Direct
Investment and Downstream Industry (FDIDI)
Steering Committee, the FDI Action and Support
Centre (FAST) was formed in November 2015
to provide complete facilitation to investors in
obtaining their project requirements.
As of May 2019, FAST became part of BEDB,
under the Ministry of Finance and Economy
(MoFE). FAST offers a fast-track approval process
for high-value investments, from coordinating
and obtaining high-level approvals to expediting
the set-up of business operations.
By collaborating with various organisations,
BEDB has helped facilitate a number of large
FDI projects in the country to spur economic
growth. This includes a multi-billion-dollar oil
refinery and aromatics plant on Pulau Muara
Besar, and an ammonia and urea plant at the
Sungai Liang Industrial Park (SPARK).
In addition to the dedicated support for
investors through the combined effort of BEDB
and relevant government agencies, there are
other attractive factors that will bene t setting
up a business in Brunei.
Among the attractive factors are 100 per cent
foreign ownership, credible co-investment
partnership,
favourable
tax
regime,
sound legal and regulatory framework,
competitive utility rates and readily available
infrastructure.