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 specific information.

In terms of investment opportunities, there are five 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 benefit 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.