Brunei energy demand to fall: ADB (The Brunei Times)

Published in the Nov 13 issue of The Brunei Times. Click here for original story

Brunei energy demand to fall: ADB

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JENNEE GRACE U RUBRICO

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

BRUNEI’S demand for crude energy is expected to go down by 2035 as the country uses more efficient power generators, a report from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said.

The country report, contained in the ADB’s latest Energy Outlook and published last month, said that Brunei’s primary energy demand will decrease to 3.08 metric tonnes of oil equivalent (Mtoe) by 2035 from 3.16 Mtoe in 2010, at an annual rate of 0.1 per cent.

Primary energy consumption is the direct use, without transformation, of crude energy.

“The country’s per capita energy demand will drop to 5.64 Toe (tonnes of oil equivalent) per person, compared with 7.92 Toe in 2010,” ADB added.

ADB said that this assumes that renewable energy will continue to contribute a small share of the total energy mix of the country, at 2.3 per cent by 2035.

It also assumes that gas and oil, which will have a share of 67.9 per cent and 29.8 per cent respectively in 2035 from 76.1 per cent and 23.9 per cent respectively in 2010, will continue to dominate the energy mix, the bank added.

The report said that in an alternative scenario, which factors in the deployment of advanced technologies that allow energy savings, Brunei’s primary energy consumption will register a bigger drop.

According to ADB, under this scenario, Brunei’s primary energy consumption will drop 0.6 per cent a year to 2.74 Mtoe by 2035, 0.34 Mtoe lower than the normal, business-as-usual scenario.

This scenario assumes that renewable energy would account for a bigger share in the primary energy demand, at 5.7 per cent by 2035.

The power sector will account for the biggest potential energy savings, at 0.18 Mtoe by 2035.

ADB attributed this to energy conservation measures that would push users to reduce demand for the commodity and the use of more efficient power plants, ADB said.

“Progress in energy conservation in the industry, residential and commercial sectors will reduce electricity demand, and thus the needed fuel input for the power plants,” it said.

“In the alternative case, Brunei Darussalam’s electricity generation in 2035 will be 3.40 TWh (terawatt-hours), 15 per cent lower than in the (business as usual) case. The efficiency improvement achieved through the development of gas-fired combined-cycle power plants will also contribute to the energy savings in the power sector,” it said.

Transport will also save 0.07 Mtoe in energy as the country shifts towards more efficient hybrid and electric vehicles, the report added.

The bank noted potential energy savings of 0.05 Mtoe from the residential and commercial users, and 0.04 Mtoe for industries.

“The residential and commercial sectors’ energy savings are mainly a result of electricity savings from the deployment of efficient appliances. The major appliances that contribute to the energy savings are air conditioners and lighting in the residential sector, and cooling in the commercial sector,” ADB said.

“The industry sector’s savings will be achieved by the deployment of advanced technologies in the various industry subsectors, especially in the efficient improvement in the oil refining and chemical industry,” it added.

Final energy demand, however, will continue to rise by 1.3 per cent annually during the period, the report said.

Final energy demand is the total energy used by end users, such as households, industry and agriculture, excluding what is consumed by the energy sector.

Final energy demand for non-energy use will get the biggest share of the total as Brunei develops its chemical industry, ADB said.

This will grow by 2.7 per cent per year, with its share in the final energy consumption pie rising to 28.9 per cent in 2035 from from 20.4 per cent in 2010, the report said.

The industry sector will see a 1.4 per cent growth in final energy demand, with its share of the total increasing slightly to to 19.5 per cent in 2035 from 19.2 per cent in 2010 , the report said.

“The development in the industry sector, especially the chemical manufacturing subsector, will likely raise Brunei Darussalam’s overall energy intensity, greenhouse gas emissions, and domestic energy demand due to significant own-use or energy in these industrial processes,” the bank said.

The rise in transport’s final energy consumption will be contained at 0.8 per cent per year, with its share reduced to 30.7 per cent in 2035 from 34.6 per cent in 2010.

Other sectors including residential, commercial, agriculture and fishery will register an annual growth of 0.5 per cent, but their share will fall to 20.9 per cent in 2035 from 25.8 per cent in 2010.

ADB said that over the outlook period, Brunei is seen to continue to be heavily dependent on energy exports to support its economy.

“A heavy dependence on exports means that the country’s economic development is vulnerable to fluctuations in the flobal market. Declining production is also impairing Brunei Darussalan’s capacity to deal with the risks,” the bank added.

The ADB’s energy demand forecast projects that Brunei’s economy would grow at annual rate of 1.7 per cent, to US$10.45 billion by 2035, 52.1 per cent higher than the GDP in 2010.

- with Al-Haadi Abu Bakar

The Brunei Times

Fewer women in top gov't posts, shorter life span push Brunei down in gender gap ladder (The Brunei Times)

Click here for original story 

Fewer women in top gov't posts, shorter life span push Brunei down in gender gap ladder

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Jennee Grace U Rubrico

Bandar Seri Begawan

Saturday, October 26, 2013

THE dearth of females in top government positions and a smaller gap in the life spans of its men and women accounted for Brunei’s low regional ranking in the World Economic Forum’s latest report on gender disparity.
Data culled by The Brunei Times from the Global Gender Gap Index 2013 show that the Sultanate was placed sixth among nine states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), after the Philippines, Singapore, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.
The Sultanate, however, ranked higher than Indonesia, Malaysia and Cambodia.
Myanmar was not included in the global study of 136 countries.
The report looks at disparity between men and women in 136 countries based on four categories: Economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival and political empowerment.
Brunei was dragged down by the political empowerment index, where it ranked last globally.
The category factors in women in ministerial positions, in which Brunei ranked 125th; the years during which it had a female head of state (60th); and women in parliament (no rank).
“It is one of two countries from the region with a score of zero on the political empowerment index,” along with Qatar, the WEF said.
The Philippines, which ranked fifth globally and was ASEAN’s top placer in gender equality, is 10th in political empowerment.
Laos ranked 73rd, Indonesia 75th, Vietnam, 80th, Thailand, 89th, and Singapore, 90th.
Cambodia, at 96th, and Malaysia, at 121st, joined Brunei in the regional bottom three.
For the health and survival index, which measures the differences between women’s and men’s health, Brunei ranked second to the lowest in the region, at 109th, higher only than Vietnam’s 132nd.
While the Sultanate ranked first in sex ratio at birth between females and males, it ranked 117th for healthy life expectancy for women.
Brunei was placed third in the region for educational attainment of women (76th globally), after the Philippines (first) and Malaysia (73).
For economic participation and opportunities for women, the Sultanate places fourth in the region, at 33rd globally.
It trails Laos, at 8th place, Singapore at 12th and the Philippines at 16th.
Overall, Brunei ranked 88th in the Global Gender Gap Index, falling 13 notches from last year’s 75th place.
The Brunei Times

9 in 10 cigarettes in Brunei 'illicit' (Brunei Times)

click here for original story

9 in 10 cigarettes in Brunei 'illicit'

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JENNEE GRACE U RUBRICO
AND DEBBIE TOO
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Country tops 10 Asian marts on ratio of illegal tobacco use

TIGHTER regulations imposed on tobacco products and lack of access have opened up the illicit market for cigarettes in the sultanate, with nine in 10 cigarettes consumed in the country sourced unlawfully.

A study of 11 Asian markets conducted by the International Tax and Investment Centre and Oxford Economics and released two days ago reported that 89.8 per cent of the cigarettes consumed in Brunei last year were sourced illicitly, with only 10.3 per cent bought through legal means.

This makes Brunei the economy with the highest incident of illicit cigarette consumption, when measured as a percentage of total usage, among the 11 markets covered by the 'Asia-11 Illicit Tobacco Indicator 2012'.

"Excise tax was substantially increased in November 2010, from $60 per kg to $250/1,000 (by 339 per cent), and more stringent requirements were introduced for retail licences. The resulting large fall in the number of retailers made it difficult for consumers to access legal duty-paid cigarettes," the study said.

Charts from Oxford Economics show that after the excise tax was imposed in November 2010, legal domestic sales volumes of cigarettes fell drastically from over 350 million sticks in 2009, to around 300 million in 2010.

By 2011, the number of cigarettes legally bought domestically fell to a little over 50 million, and by 2012, it was down to 36 million.

The study, however, estimates that in 2012, a total of 351 million cigarettes were consumed, indicating that 315 million of these were sourced illicitly.

The study based its estimates on the average of the Empty Pack Surveys from 2011 and 2013.

"The Empty Pack Survey reveals some inflows into Brunei of duty-free cigarettes and duty-paid cigarettes from Malaysia and Indonesia," the study said.

"Most non-domestic cigarettes are designated as 'unspecified' but are likely to come from neighbouringcountries."

A bottom-up estimate of total consumption using smoking prevalence, average cigarette consumption, and population corroborates the figures, suggesting "an illicit share of around 87 per cent", the study added.

The decision of foreign tobacco makers to leave the country also contributed to the collapse of the legal domestic market in Brunei, the study said.

"Brunei's legal domestic sales ... collapsed after a series of radical regulatory and fiscal measures caused international tobacco manufacturers to exit the market," it said.

"The collapse of the legal market after the exit of international tobacco manufacturers left the market served largely by illicit imports."

The study estimates that the government lost $79 million in taxes from the illicit consumption of cigarettes last year.

The study, which was funded by Philip Morris Asia, also looked into the cigarette consumption of Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Australia, Taiwan, Vietnam, Singapore, Pakistan, Malaysia and Hong Kong.

Hong Kong trails Brunei in the list as the market with the second highest percentage of illicit use, at about 35.9 per cent of the total domestic consumption. It is followed by Malaysia, with 34.5 per cent, and Pakistan at 25.4 per cent.

The 11 markets covered by the report consumed an estimated 736.4 billion cigarettes in 2012, of which nine per cent or 66.5 billion are estimated to have been sourced illicitly.

The Brunei Times

Housing ownership curbs protect Brunei real estate market (The Brunei Times)

This came out on the July 6, 2013 issue of The Brunei Times. Click here for original story

Housing ownership curbs protect Brunei real estate market

In Brunei, the housing market is still largely a domestic play and the rise and fall of interest rates does not change demand as quickly or dramatically as in other markets in Asia. Picture: BT file

Jennee Grace U Rubrico
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

Saturday, July 6, 2013

THE move to limit ownership of residential property to locals caps foreign investments in the segment but also protects Brunei from fluctuations in the real estate market, a property expert said.

In an email interview with The Brunei Times recently, Dr Chua Yang Liang, head of research for Southeast Asia at global property consultancy firm Jones Lang LaSalle, said that the Sultanate's housing market was "relatively stable" because of limitations set by the government.

Under the law, only Bruneians can own landed property in the country. Foreigners and permanent residents can only hold properties under strata titles or long-term leasehold rights. Last month, most banks stopped granting housing loan applications from permanent residents and foreigners to reflect the edict.

"While the long-term lease structure has effectively made the housing market available to foreigners, nevertheless, it is still fairly limited and has capped the level of investment in the domestic housing market," Chua said.

"Equally, this has benefited the domestic market as it does not have that destabilising effect that speculation brings as can be seen by the number of anti-speculation policies that governments in Hong Kong, China and Singapore have put in place to cool down their housing markets," she added.

Speculation is the practice of engaging in financial transactions and turning around to profit from fluctuations in the market value of the products.

Chua noted that the Brunei property market "is generally less transparent compared to other mature Asian countries such as Hong Kong or Singapore".

"However, it is also ...not overly affected by the effect of hot money floating around in Asia," she said, referring to money that flows quickly out of markets that give little returns into those offering the highest yields.

Chua also said that because the residential real estate market in the country was driven largely by people buying homes for their own use rather than as investments, changes in interest rates for housing loans are not likely to have an immediate and direct impact on demand.

The Autoriti Monetari Brunei Darussalam (AMBD) in March imposed a maximum effective interest rate or annualised profit rate of not more than 4.5 per cent per annum on housing loans, as part of efforts to enhance the financial infrastructure and inculcate sound financial management among debtors.

"In Brunei, as the housing market is still largely a domestic play, the rise and fall of interest rates may not change demand as quickly or dramatically as you expect unlike other markets in Asia. Investment demand (here) is fairly limited."

Data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which were sourced from the Department of Economic Planning and Development show no foreign direct investments coming in for real estate, renting and business activity in 2011. In 2009 and 2010, the sector saw $3 million in foreign direct investments per year, while in 2007 and 2008, it logged $2 million in foreign direct investments per year.

Chua, however, said that while there was little interest among regional developers to enter Brunei's residential real estate market, "if domestic demand in Brunei was to enjoy a sustained rise, then this might arouse interest among domestic developers".

Reflecting strong demand for housing, mortgage has the second biggest share in the loan portfolios of commercial banks in the country, after personal loans. The latest data from the central bank which are cited by the IMF show that mortgage totalling $1.326 billion accounted for 26 per cent of the $5.09 billion in loans extended by commercial banks in 2011.

The share of mortgage in the banks' loan portfolios has been increasing over the past three years, from 18.6 per cent in 2009 and 23.6 per cent in 2010, data show. As of the third quarter of 2012, mortgage made up 27.1 per cent of the total loans extended by commercial banks. The Brunei Times

published on the July 5, 2013 issue of BusinessWorld. Click here for the original story

Focus

Posted on 06:11 PM, July 04, 2013

Text and Photos by Jennee Grace U. Rubrico

Langkawi: Eagle's eyrie

The eagles swoop down, curious about the fish that the water taxi captain offers to them. Their hunger has long been satisfied, having already participated in this spectacle a few times prior to our arrival. Yet the russet colored predators that are smaller than their western cousins continue to survey the area -- gliding, taking turns diving, then taking back to the skies, some to look back below, others to deposit their loot at the eyries that tower over the nearby islet.

The feeding is more for the pleasure of the humans who crane their necks from inside the boat to get a better view, cameras of varying sizes fixtures on their faces, to snap photos of the birds. Engineered to hunt with their talons, sharp vision, and beaks, the birds of prey need no assistance to feed. That so many of them condescend to show up in full avian splendour to play to the audience is a surprising but deeply appreciated gift from the kings of the sky -- after whom the Malaysian paradise of Langkawi is named.

An archipelago of 99 islands off the state of Kedah in Malaysia, Langkawi has harnessed its untamed beauty to gain a chunk of the tourism sector without giving too much of itself away.

The island grouping follows its own weather, preferring to splash a dose of sunlight during traditionally cold months when the capital city of Kuala Lumpur, which is less than an hour away by plane, hosts somber skies.

"In Langkawi, it’s sunny from December to March," the taxi driver that ferries us out of the airport and to our hotel says.

The island has everything that sun worshippers and beach bums dream of: sandy shores bordering emerald seas that sparkle under the sun.

Be it in the tourist-filled town of Pantai Cenang on the main island, or the many islets of the archipelago, beaches in Langkawi are within easy reach.

BEACHES AND A HIDDEN LAKE
A half-day tour around the islands gives visitors a glimpse of the archipelago’s natural treasures for as low as RM30 (around P450). Besides communing with the eagles on the waters of Pulau Singa Besar (Big Lion Island), the tour includes a swim at the white beaches of Pulau Beras Basah (Wet Rice Island).

A thick forest hides the rest of the uninhabited island from adventure seekers, and there is not much on the island by way of facilities beyond some tables, a water pump to wash off the seawater after a swim, a store to buy snacks or the all-important bottled water from, and a toilet of unknown character.

But Pulau Beras Basah’s cool, clear waters prove irresistible on a stifling December day. The water’s gentle slope make it safe for people of all ages, and swimmers and snorkelers are rewarded with glimpses of the island’s biodiversity as schools of fish swim by. Sea urchins, though, may provide a bit of a sting to an otherwise pleasant experience.

Stronger swimmers can look forward to a vigorous workout at another stop, the Lake of the Pregnant Maiden, which lies in the island of the same name (Pulau Dayang Bunting). The freshwater lake that is separated from the ocean by a narrow wall of rocks is extremely deep, and the only way to keep afloat after plunging -- yes plunging -- into it from a platform is to tread water. Life jackets and buoys are available for rent, as are jet skis.

Those who prefer to remain dry will not regret trudging from the dock to the lake -- and possibly tussling with monkeys over a container of food -- for the view. With the high verdant walls isolating the lake, the place could be a lost world. Mermaids could live here, as could dinosaurs or the Loch Ness monster.

One would think that a lake this huge would have warnings about crocodiles or water snakes. Otters, however, seem infinitely more alarming, as a placard tells visitors to watch out for their bite.

There is power emanating from the island, so named because from afar it looks like a pregnant woman lying on her back. Legend has it that this is a maiden who buried her dead child beside the lake. If one is to believe the tales, barren women would conceive after taking a dip.

The journey to the mystical islands of Langkawi begins and ends on the wharf made picturesque by white birds dotting the blue skies and yachts doing the same to the similarly hued sea. Bookings for the tour can be done everywhere -- from the lobbies of the hotels, to the cab drivers that ply Langkawi’s circumferential road, to the roadside tour operator.

Upscale versions of the tour are also available for those who want privacy or want to experience Langkawi’s sunset in a Jacuzzi aboard a yacht.

DINING AND SHOPPING
The sea is also instrumental in Langkawi’s gustatory offerings. In the low-key town of Kuah, visitors are spoiled for choice at Trimula, a cluster of restaurants along Jln Persiaran Mutiara. Crabs and prawns that are housed in tanks at the restaurants before they are cooked are the best introduction a visitor could have to Langkawi. Pork and alcohol, both haram (prohibited) to Muslims, are also served in the area.

In Pantai Cenang, the Beach Garden Restaurant offers gourmet food right on the beach. Meals can be pricey, but the huge basket of home-baked bread that comes with the breakfast is worth the money.

Kuah, the commercial face of duty-free Langkawi, is also best place to shop. The town has everything anyone could think of buying -- kitchenware and houseware, plush toys, branded goods and imitation items. Among the shop houses, the best known general merchandise stores are owned by the Haji Ismail Group. The stores, which are sprinkled all over Kuah and are sometimes just a few meters apart from each other, are said to offer the best prices for alcohol, chocolates, houseware and kitchenware.

For resort wear and souvenir shirts, general goods stores and roadside boutiques are the best options. Langkawi Saga sells batik dresses and "I love Langkawi" tees for as low as RM15. Beside Bayview Hotel, a shopping center called Plaza Langkawi sells a wide array of cool cotton clothes. The prices of the items fall as one goes deeper into the shopping area, so shoppers would do well to hold off purchasing until prices are to their liking.

Flea markets tucked in back streets also sell souvenir shirts and resort clothes, but the prices are padded. There is room to haggle in flea markets, though not much to try on the items.

For branded sportswear, Al Ikhsan is the best bet. The sporting goods store sells a range of original sporting goods from shoes to swimwear at cutthroat prices, especially during clearance sales. Just outside its doors are rows of roadside shops that sell imitation goods, providing a contrast that works in the favor of the all-original fashion chain.

Langkawi also has a proliferation of spas. Belli’s, which operates around Kuah, offers a range of relaxation treatments that work like magic after a full day of shopping or sightseeing without necessarily piercing a hole through pockets. A two-and-a-half hour treatment that includes foot reflexology, a full body massage, and a body scrub sets one back by RM138 -- perhaps too steep a price to pay for a good night’s sleep, or not.

Getting around the main island is a breeze -- taxis, the bane of Malaysia, are better organized in Langkawi, with stops located a few steps away from any shopping mall or hotel and official tariffs posted in public to avoid overcharging. Those who prefer to drive can also rent a car right after stepping out of the plane -- at the airport, a number of car rental companies have booths that tourists can approach for their temporary ride. Walking is also an option, as accommodations in Kuah are right in the heart of the shopping district, and roadside shops in Pantai Cenang are right outside the hotels.

Langkawi is also called the Pearl of Keddah, perhaps for its beauty and for being the treasure trove of good finds that it is. But more than a gem birthed from the marriage of sand and oyster’s saliva, the archipelago is embodied by the eagles from which it owes its name: compact and powerful, naturally fascinating, sometimes predatory, always a sight to behold.

Home loan market settles (The Brunei Times)

Published in the June 26, 2013 issue of The Brunei Times. Click here for original article

Home loan market settles

Potential home buyers who had held back on buying immediately after the new rates were imposed are now back in the market. Picture: BT file

 

Debbie Too and

Jennee Grace Rubrico

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

THREE months after the central bank imposed changes in key interest rates, the residential loan market appears to have adjusted to a new normal.

Potential home buyers who had held back on buying immediately after the new rates were imposed are now back in the market, opting to proceed with long-planned purchases in the wake of the changes. Financial institutions, on their part, have factored the new rates into their products and are now back in business after a number imposed a short-lived moratorium on home financing.

"We are still going to go ahead and take up a home financing product," said Rina, a potential home owner who had earlier expressed concern over the impact of the changes in the interest rates on access to home financing.

She said that she and her husband were going to push through with the plan to get home financing since there was "no choice".

The Autoriti Monetari Brunei Darussalam (AMBD) on March 6 imposed new rates with the aim of enhancing the financial infrastructure and inculcating sound financial and debt management among users of credit.

Under the AMBD directive, residential property loans or financing now have a revised maximum effective interest rate or annualised profit rate of not more than 4.5 per cent per annum.

Following the amendment of interest rates, banks -- some of which froze home loans for around a week -- altered their packages to take into account the new interest rate regime.

Among others, banks decreased the amount they would finance for the property to 70 per cent -80 per cent of its value. Subsidies for home loan packages, which can amount to $15,000, were also cancelled.

Indirect impact

In an email interview, Dr Chua Yang Liang, the head of research for Southeast Asia for property consultant Jones Lang LaSalle, told The Brunei Times that the impact of interest rates on housing demand is "not as direct".

"Fundamentally, housing demand can be a consumption or for investment... In Brunei, as the housing market is still largely a domestic play, the rise or fall of interest rate may not change demand as quickly or as dramatically as you would expect," she said.

She also said that Brunei is a "relatively stable market" and added that while Bruneians might change their buying pattern in reaction to the shift in the interest rate, "we do not think that this alone is sufficient to lead to a structural shift to the residential market".

While overall the home financing market seems to be getting back on track, however, there could be changes in banks' share of the market as debtors flock to creditors with the most favourable packages.

Rasidah Haji Abu Bakar, a reporter for The Brunei Times and a home loan applicant, said that she is now opting to purchase property through Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) because the bank gives a longer repayment period compared to HSBC (B) Sdn Bhd, her previous choice.

"They (HSBC) changed their repayment period for home loans to 10 years and I can't afford to repay for a house in 10 years," she said.

She also said that SCB provided her with subsidies for the processing fees and other contractual agreements with the bank. Even with this, however, she is required to shell out more cash for her loans now since additional items such as the mortgage reducing term assurance -- an insurance cover in the event of the applicant's death or permanent disability -- would require a personal loan to pay off.

Cheok Fui Say, general manager of Retail Lending at SCB, said that demand for home loans has continued, but it was not clear if the increased demand was seen as a direct result of the rates revision.

She only said that "with the revised rates, customers are even more advantaged by the fact that all rates are equal and this would save them time from going from bank to bank to 'shop' for the best rates". She added, though, that the bank has seen a surge in applications for refinancing.

HSBC, on the other hand, said in reply to questions sent by The Brunei Times that volumes have gone down.

"(HSBC is) satisfied with the changes it has made on its home loan application, but obviously the volumes have reduced considerably over the past few months as a result of these changes."

HSBC's restructed home loan packages now have a repayment period that was shortened to 10 years, and the bank has told customers that it would only finance properties for up to a maximum of 70 per cent of their value. The bank has also taken away subsidies that used to amount to a maximum of $15,000 and included land valuation, insurance and others.

Other borrowers, meanwhile, opt to take up financing from banks that they have a history with. Rina, for instance, said that she and her husband would probably opt to go to Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam (BIBD) "because it's my husband's bank".

"We haven't met up with the home financing specialist to discuss what our package would be but we heard that financing would be up to 80 per cent only," she said.

A home financing specialist from BIBD said: "At the bank we would handle the financing option, and we offer financing up to 70 per cent of the market value or the selling price, whichever is lower."

She added that on a case-by-case basis the amount being financed could be increased.

Depending on the financial health of the customer, sometimes the subsidies can be included in the total amount for the home financing product, but if they are not eligible, customers may have to opt for a personal loan to pay for the subsidies. Baiduri Bank, for its part, says it has been doing well on the home financing front.

Pierre Imhof, the chief executive officer of Baiduri, said that the amendments to the interest rates did not have much of an impact to the bank's home financing packages as it had already been offering rates that were in line with the new rules prior to their effectivity.

Imhof added that the price that Baiduri grants under its facility is directly linked, or is in proportion, to the risk the bank has to take.

"What we have also seen is that there is a backlog to the access of ownership in Brunei and we definitely believe that a number of people are still keen to come and see us to find the right loan," he said. The Brunei Times

 

 

Off the beaten path: Taiping (BusinessWorld)

Published in the June 6 issue of BusinessWorld. Click here for the original story. 

Focus

Posted on 06:37 PM, June 06, 2013

By Jennee Grace U. Rubrico

Off the beaten path: Taiping

 0  0  0  New 

 

The decrepit shop houses that line the sidewalk of the main road hardly encourage tourists to check out what the town has to offer. Many look abandoned and stand as remnants of an era passed, when trade must have bustled and the tin industry that helped fuel an industrial revolution in the west was at its peak.

Taiping Lake -- www.wikipedia.org

Without a mall, theater, beach or port, and without a lot of buzz going around, the town of Taiping in the state of Perak, Malaysia, is easy to ignore. About the only thing it is known for is its zoo, which draws 700,000 visitors a year, mostly students who go on excursions to see the animals.

But there is more to the town than meets the eye. Unquestionably off the beaten path, Taiping rewards the adventurous traveler with experiences that are infinitely more profound than mere merry-making and leisurely sightseeing.

“We are a small town [but] we have a beautiful background of heritage. We still have our old buildings, and we have our nature,” says Hanim Ramly, the head of Taiping’s Tourism, Education and Publicity Division.

Developed by the British to be the administrative center in Perak in the 1880s, Taiping does not hide its age. A walk around the city reveals architectural treasures and heritage buildings at every turn. The District Offices building in the heart of the town was built in 1897 and continues to stand in full colonial splendor.

Other restored structures that transport visitors back to the era of the Empire’s occupation include old schools and churches set up by the British during their stay in the town, centuries-old houses and the first garrison to be built in peninsular Malaysia, the Taiping Prison, which was built in 1879. Other telltale signs -- like a red phone booth reminiscent of the ones seen in old movies -- also serve as serendipitous finds for those who take the heritage stroll.

Two museums in the town are perhaps more remarkable for their age and history than for the collections they house. The Perak Museum, also in the heart of the town, is the first museum to open in peninsular Malaysia and is a study in colonial architecture with its whitewashed walls, intricate towers and decorated windows. Built in 1883, the structure houses a collection of 8,474 items, of which 5,074 are cultural, 523 are nature-related and 2,877 are archeological. Adding to its vintage feel are a World War II aircraft and an old steam train that are parked on the grounds.

A side trip to the district of Matang, meanwhile, brings one to the second museum: the Matang Historical Complex, also called the Ngah Ibrahim Fort. Built as a residence of tin miner Ngah Ibrahim in 1858, the house is made in the style of old Malay buildings, with wooden floors and heavy wooden staircases running from both sides of the main door. At the threshold, visitors are met by an elephant in the room -- a statue of it that depicts how Ngah Ibrahim’s father Long Jaafar made his fortune from tin mining. According to legend, the elephant, owned by Long Jaafar, went missing and when found days later, was discovered covered in mud that had tin ore embedded in it.

Over the years, the residence changed hands. It fell under the British, who used it as a court to try a Malay chief for the death of a British officer; and the Japanese, who turned it into a strategic operations center during World War II. It is now under the Perak government, which has turned it into a showcase of its own history as well as that of the man who originally owned it.

Also in Matang is the Matang Mangrove Forest. Boardwalks beside the river lead visitors from the administrative office to the deeper parts of the forest, and visitors are guaranteed to see some wildlife. Our party, led by Taiping residents Dina and Hidir, had barely gotten to the starting point when a seasnake poked a diamond-shaped head out of the water and started eyeing us. Less than five minutes later, while we were still on the platform, Hidir pointed out another snake, about three feet long, sleeping with its body wrapped around a tree root.

During the 15-minute walk which saw us going half the distance of the trail, our party saw crabs in the mud below the boards, a woodpecker pecking on a tree, different tree species, and fish. We could also hear monkeys calling, but before we could get to them we decided that it would be safer for us to head back.

Dina assured us that the trail was safe. We did meet several forest rangers roaming in pairs during the short trip we took around the mangroves, and a lot of log houses, which are rented out, are built on the river.

The natural endowments of Taiping are also visible in the town proper, where centuries-old trees that line its main roads droop towards the ponds and lakes of the Taiping Lake Gardens, a former mining ground that was converted by the British into a public garden. Close by, at 1,000 meters above sea level, Maxwell Hill hosts nature trails and boasts not only cool weather and flora but also the best view of the town below it.

Ms. Hanim, Taiping’s tourism head, acknowledges that while the town has a lot to offer, more needs to be done to get it to figure more prominently on the tourism map.

She notes that when tourists visit the town, they usually stay for only two or three hours. She also notes the lack of foreign tourists, saying that of the 700,000 visitors the town gets annually, only 0.8% come from overseas.

But promotions are under way, she said, and the town is working with the governments of neighboring cities to get more tourists.

There may yet come a time when more tourists would walk down Taiping’s paths, and the town would gain the recognition it deserves.

For the time being, though, the feeble shop houses that line its streets continue to guard its secrets, and only those who dare to see what lies beyond would discover the riches that this quiet, aged town hides.

Over $500m spent on fuel subsidies in 2011 (The Brunei Times)

Published in the April 20, 2013 issue of The Brunei Times. Click here for original article. 

Over $500m spent on fuel subsidies in 2011, strain on coffers

Jennee Rubrico
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

Saturday, April 20, 2013

THE sultanate spent more than half a billion Brunei dollars on fuel subsidies in 2011, putting a "tremendous strain" on the national coffers, an official of the Asian Development Bank told The Brunei Times.

Minsoo Lee, senior economist in the Macroeconomics and Finance Research Division of the Economics and Research Department of ADB, said in an email interview that the sultanate spent US$470 million ($580.283 million) on general fuel subsidies in 2011.

This meant that the government shouldered US$1,159, or $1,431.84, of the fuel costs of each person in the country, he added.

"The government provides very generous subsidies to ordinary citizens through a variety of pathways, including electricity, LPG (liquefied petroleum gas, or cooking gas), and transport fuels," Lee said.

"The costs of these programmes do weigh upon a government, even one with substantial financial resources. Transport fuels are held perhaps 45 per cent below market costs and are part of the overall energy subsidies," he added.

Transport fuel in the sultanate, said to be lowest in the region, ranges from 30 cents to 60 cents per litre at the pump.

Data from the Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH show that Brunei pays for almost half of the cost of the fuel that motorists buy at the pump.

On its website, the organisation noted that the commercial cost of gasoline with a 92 octane rating is at 92 cents per litre, but only retails for 51.9 cents per litre, with the sultanate covering the remaining 40.1 cents.

"The subsidy for diesel is even higher," it said, as it noted that the commercial cost for the fuel is at 91 cents per litre while it only sells at 31 cents, with the government shouldering the remaining 60 cents.

The GIZ draws up a database on fuel prices, taxes, price policies for countries in the world on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economy Cooperation and Development.

"Reallocating fiscal resources to infrastructure, health and education would spur growth and make it more inclusive," Lee said.

Earlier, the Ministry of Health proposed before parliament a $366.479 million budget for this year, to cover for payroll, additional manpower, purchase of medicines, hospital upgrades, procurement of laboratory equipment and health promotion, among others.

Social services, for its part, was given a $351.6 million outlay from the development budget to support projects in education, health, national housing and human resources, it was earlier reported.

The Ministry of Development has earmarked $313.2 million for the 2013/2014 financial year, for flood control projects, improvements in road safety, and public housing services.

The Ministry of Education, on its part, gets a bigger budget allocation than the amount the government spent to subsidise fuel in 2011. The ministry presented a $759.128 million budget for 2013/2014, up 3.8 per cent $731.066 million the previous fiscal year at the ninth Legislative Council proceedings.

The allocation was made for teachers' salaries, overhead costs, school buses, purchase of educational equipment, and training for teaching staff.

The budgets for these ministries, however, do not take into account support that may come from the 10th National Development Project, which was given $1.05 billion for this fiscal year.

Lee noted that while popular, selling fuel below true market prices "increases energy consumption, distorts energy development planning, and damages the environment".

Reducing the real price for diesel or electricity, he said, weakens incentives to conserve on energy and inhibits the development of renewable resources, which Brunei has been pushing for.

"Worse, the main beneficiaries of energy subsidies are not the poor. If the intent is to make energy affordable to the poor, only the poorest 20 percentile should benefit from the subsidy," he said, adding that in Asia, only five to 15 per cent of the subsidy benefits go to the poorest of the poor.

Lee also said that Brunei's ability to produce oil does not make it less vulnerable to the impacts of fuel subsidies, noting that the country's affluence is critically dependent on the energy sector.

"The oil and gas sectors account for nearly two-thirds of Brunei's GDP (gross domestic product), roughly 95 per cent of Brunei's export revenues and about 90 per cent of government revenues," he noted.

"This dependence on a single natural resource makes the economy vulnerable to fluctuations arising from energy markets. In common with other small oil and gas exporting countries, the economy is subject to pressures from swings in global prices and domestic production issues," he added.

In the recently released ADB Development Outlook 2013, the bank ranked Brunei the third biggest provider of fossil fuel subsidies in Asia when considered as a share of a country's economy.

In the list of 11 Asian countries, Brunei, which provides subsidies of over three per cent of its GDP, or the total value of goods and services produced by a country within a period, trailed Bangladesh, at five per cent of its GDP, and Pakistan whose subsidies cover more than four per cent of its economy.

According to the report, a US$0.25 per litre increase in fuel prices causes a 4.5 per cent decline in real income of households in Asia and the Pacific.

The impact is partly direct, as households have to spend more on fuel, and partly indirect, as prices for goods and services increase with higher embedded energy costs, the report added.

Brunei produced 155,000 barrels of oil a day in January to September 2012, lower than the 166,000 barrels a day it produced in 2011.

The Brunei Times

Brunei telco rates highest in ASEAN (The Brunei Times)

Published in the April 13, 2013 edition of The Brunei Times. Click here for the original article

Brunei telco rates highest in ASEAN

Jennee Rubrico

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

Saturday, April 13, 2013

THE sultanate has the most expensive tariffs for telecommunications services in the ASEAN, but this does not mean that it has the fastest Internet connection in the region, a report released by the World Economic Forum (WEF) the other day shows.

The 2013 edition of the Global Information Technology Report, which ranks 144 economies in the world for networked readiness, places Brunei at 135th for affordability of telecommunications services.

It beats the seven other member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) which were included in the study: Vietnam, which at 38th of 144 economies has the lowest tariff for telecommunications services in the regional bloc; Indonesia, at 39th, Thailand at 45th; Malaysia, ranked 50th; Singapore (55th); the Philippines (82nd); and Cambodia (112th).

The WEF does not include Myanmar and Laos, the two other members of the 10-nation grouping, in the study.

In computing affordability of telecommunications services, WEF factors in mobile cellular tariffs, fixed broadband Internet rates and a competition factor derived from the Internet and telephony sectors competition index.

Brunei fares the worst in ASEAN for mobile cellular and fixed broadband Internet tariffs, with charges averaging US$0.45 a minute for mobile cellular calls and US$81.20 per month for wired broadband Internet service.

In contrast, Thailand, which has the cheapest cellular phone rates among the countries in the region, charges only US$0.09 per minute for calls. Vietnam, for its part, charges US$28.01 per month for fixed Internet services, the lowest among the members of the regional bloc.

For the Internet and telephony sectors competition index which measures the level of competition for Internet services, international long distance calls and mobile telephone services on a scale of 0 to 2 (2 being the highest) Brunei is again at the bottom, with a score of 0.78.

The country has three telco providers: Telekom Brunei Berhad, DST and B-Mobile.

Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore are the regional leaders in the index with the score of 2. All the other countries in the region that are covered by the study score at least 1.79 in the index.

The WEF study also shows that the high Internet tariff of Brunei does not translate to faster connection the country has an international Internet bandwidth per user of 22 kb/s, a far cry from Singapore's 343.7 kb/s.

Brunei's bandwidth, however, is not the lowest in the region. The country of 400,000 people is only slightly behind Thailand's bandwidth of 24.6 kb/s, and is better than Cambodia's 13.5 kb/s, the Philippines' 12.4 kb/s, Malaysia's 10.7 kb/s, Vietnam's 10 kb/s, and Indonesia's 7.2 kb/s.

The WEF study also shows that Bruneians are Internet savvy, ranking second only to Singapore in the region when it comes to the use of virtual social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn for professional and personal communications.

And while there are more mobile phone subscriptions than there are people in the sultanate, with an average subscription of 109.2 per for every 100 people, the WEF report shows that the country's telecommunications market has room to grow.

The report shows that only 56 per cent of Bruneians are Internet users, lower than Singapore's 71 per cent and Malaysia's 61 per cent. For every 100 people in the sultanate, only 6.3 have mobile broadband Internet subscriptions, compared to regional leader Singapore's 114.1, Indonesia's 22.2, Vietnam's 18, and Malaysia's 12.3.

And although it ranks third in the region for the category, Brunei only has 5.7 subscriptions for fixed broadband Internet for every 100. Singapore has 25.6 and Malaysia, 7.4.

The country fares better when it comes to households with Internet access and those with personal computers.

According to the WEF, 65 per cent of Bruneian households have Internet access while 79.6 per cent have personal computers. In the region, it trails only Singapore, with 84.8 per cent and 86.1 per cent respectively.

Software piracy in the country, at 67 per cent of the total software units installed, is the third lowest in the region, after Singapore's 33 per cent and Malaysia's 55 per cent.

The study does not indicate Brunei's mobile network coverage rate, or the percentage of total population covered by a mobile network signal. It is the only country in the region with unknown network coverage levels.

On the regulatory indicators, Brunei scored a 4.1 on a range of 0 to 7 in the assessment of its ICT laws, trailing Singapore (5.8), Malaysia (5.2) and Indonesia (4.2) in the region. It ranks third in the region for intellectual property protection, after Singapore and Malaysia.

Competition in the country is within the global average, with Brunei scoring 4.8 on a range of a low of 1 to a high 7. Competition in Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand is seen as more intense.

Brunei also lags other countries in the region in the number of procedures and the time required to start a business, at 15 steps and 101 days respectively. Malaysia, and Singapore, which lead in the first indicator, only require three steps, while it only takes three days to start a business in Singapore.

The Philippines, meanwhile, requires more steps than Brunei to start a business (16), but processes the requirements faster, at 36 days.

Brunei is above the global average of 4.3, in a range of 1 to 7, for the social impact of ICT on access to basic services. It scores 5.1 amd is behind Singapore and Malaysia. It is also on the upper side of the range for Internet access in schools, scoring 5.3 in a range of 1 to 7, putting it in second place in the region, after Singapore.

For overall networked readiness, Brunei is ranked 57th of 144 economies, three notches down from 54th place last year.

The Brunei Times