China-Brunei joint venture signs Phase 2 petrochemical project deal

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- Hengyi Industries, the largest joint venture between Brunei and China, signed an Implementation Agreement for the Pulau Muara Besar (PMB) Phase 2 Development Project on Wednesday, marking another milestone for the flagship petrochemical project.

Hengyi Industries is a joint venture between China's Zhejiang Hengyi Group and Damai Holdings, a wholly-owned subsidiary under the Brunei government's Strategic Development Capital Fund, owning 70 percent and 30 percent of the shares, respectively.

The first phase of Hengyi PMB petrochemical project was put into operation in November 2019. The completion of phase 2 will increase the crude oil refining capacity by an additional 2 million tons per year, Qiu Jianlin, Chairman of Zhejiang Hengyi Group, told Xinhua.

"Hengyi Industries has been Brunei Darussalam's key partner in our journey towards diversifying the country's economic sector through downstream oil and gas, bringing us closer to realizing the aspiration of the Economic Blueprint for Brunei Darussalam," Haji Awang Halbi, Bruneian minister at the Prime Minister's Office and second minister of defense as co-chair of the PMB Development Steering Committee, told the signing ceremony held at Empire Brunei.

"Since its commissioning in 2019, Hengyi Industries has been instrumental in strengthening Brunei Darussalam's energy security and driving Brunei Darussalam's economic growth, having directly contributed over a total of 4.5 billion Brunei dollars (3.3 billion U.S. dollars) to the national GDP until 2022, and now holds a significant share of about 9.4 percent of the total national GDP," Halbi said.

"Hengyi Industries contributed around 55 percent of the country's total export in 2022," he added.

The minister said the agreement for the Phase 2 project marked another important milestone in the partnership between Brunei and China, expecting Hengyi to continue upholding high standards to implement the Phase 2 project and make greater contributions to Brunei's socio-economic development.