Brunei welcomes more investment from China: senior official

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- Brunei is looking forward to welcoming more foreign direct investment (FDI) from China in all sectors, Haji Khairuddin, the country's deputy minister of finance and economy said here on Wednesday.

When delivering his keynote speech at the Brunei-China Trade and Economic Forum, Haji Khairuddin said that this forum was timely as "we celebrate the elevation of ASEAN and China's dialogue relations to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership".

"Over the years, Brunei and China have worked closely to build a partnership that benefits our people and covers many areas including trade and investment," he told the online forum.

"Brunei values China's participations in various sectors such as logistics, aquaculture, downstream oil and gas and banking services as not only they contribute to the creation of employment and GDP of this country, they also become an important contributor to our economic diversification effort," Haji Khairuddin said.

According to the deputy minister, China continues to be one of Brunei's top trading partners and largest investors.

"This positive trend reflects the importance we accord to our trade ties with China and its contribution to Brunei's economic growth and development," he said.

"The Brunei government is stepping up efforts to diversify its economy away from the oil and gas sector to other sectors such as food, downstream oil and gas, tourism, services and information and communications technology, and we continue to welcome FDI from China to invest in these sectors," Haji Khairuddin said.

"Efforts are underway in enhancing the already business-friendly environment for FDI and we encourage further business and investment collaboration between Brunei and China," he added.