DATO SERI SETIA AWANG HAJI
ZAKARIA BIN
DATU MAHAWANGSA HAJI SULAIMAN
THE
ROYAL BRUNEI AIRLINES
INTERNET
BOOKING ENGINE
1st August, 2001
Bismillahir
Rahmanir Rahim
Assalamualaikum
Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh
Excellencies,
Permanent
Secretaries,
Ladies
and Gentlemen,
First
of all, let me congratulate the Royal Brunei Airlines on the Launching of the
Internet Booking Engine – a facility that offers secure and easy access to
purchasing airline ticket to its customers anywhere and anytime. I also would
like to congratulate Royal Brunei Airlines for its confidence in adapting the
information technology as a strategic tool in its business operation.
The
small domestic market in this
country can no longer be regarded as one of the factors inhibiting the growth of
business and trade.
The Internet today offers
far wider geographic coverage to customers worldwide, opening more
markets that are otherwise impossible to reach, improve productivity, reduce
cost and enhance customers
satisfaction. The Internet and the Information Technology drastically transform
the way we conduct businesses to a level that we can never imagine before.
Ladies
and Gentlemen,
The
future direction in information technology in this country has been clearly
identified in the Brunei Darussalam IT Strategic Plan “IT 2000 and
Beyond”. One of the three key IT strategies identified in The Plan is
the private sector drive towards
electronic business. With regards to the diffusion of IT in the private sector,
our goal is to achieve the status of an electronic business society by the year
2004. This goal can only be achieved with the strong commitment from the
government and the private sector together. I am very happy to witness today
that our private sector in this country is responding positively towards the
achieving of this goal.
We
strongly believe that IT offers a
lot of opportunities for building
stronger and more competitive communities through the improved access to and the
use of global information. Therefore, the successful businesses in todays global
economy are those companies which can enlarge the scope of their reach
capabilities by taking advantage of opportunities in the new digital economies.
We hope that the launching of the Royal Brunei Airlines
internet booking engine today will be the catalyst
and an example for many other companies in this country to follow.
Ladies and
Gentlemen
The
rapid pace of globalisation brought about by the advancement of information
technology such as the Internet, produce major structural changes in the
industries around the world. In the
aviation sector, globalisation is bringing more passengers to the market -
Passengers who demanded better services
and seamless air services. While the
technology is ready to permeate the aviation
industry, its market is still somewhat closed.
Although inherently a global market, aviation today is still governed by
outdated, restrictive bilateral agreements that determine route rights, allocate
flight frequencies and regulate
pricing changes.
We
have seen that enhanced competition in international aviation markets made air
travel more affordable and accessible to many million of potential new
passengers and the results have seen significant
increases in travel. To be competitive requires
the industry to be on the cutting edge of technology and able to develop
new business methods for serving the new world market. Realising the benefits of
more liberal market to airlines, consumers and general economic development, a
number of like minded countries have embarked
on more liberal Open Skies agreements that allow airlines greater flexibility to
operate.
Last
November, Brunei Darussalam and four of our Open Skies partners in APEC - Chile,
New Zealand, Singapore and the United States initialed a Multilateral Agreement
on the liberalisation of International Air Transport. The agreement was formally
signed on 1st May, 2001
. It is the world’s first multilateral Open Skies accord. This breakthrough
agreement permits unrestricted international air service among all parties to
the agreement, as well as other
benefits, for the first time ever.
More
Open Skies agreements means that Brunei Darussalam airlines can enter new
markets and can improve and expand existing services and increase air travel and
access. When services are increasing, fares are down, and we see growth in the
market continuing.
We
are convinced that the benefits of liberal aviation market are real and we are
keen to promote open skies to other
countries as well as our bilateral partners to join the multilateral agreement.
Brunei Darussalam shall seize every
opportunity to encourage open skies to
them and look forward to additional signatories to this Multilateral Agreement.
We hope that with this Agreement
our national carrier the Royal Brunei Airlines will take advantage of the
opening markets to expand its operation by continuously upgrading the customer
services with innovative new products. There is no better way to win the loyalty
of your customers than through a consistently high standard service quality.
Finally,
I want to thank Royal Brunei Airlines for kindly inviting me at the Launching
of the Royal Brunei Airlines Internet Booking Facility this morning.
Let me once again commend Royal Brunei Airlines for introducing this new
facility and I wish you all success for the future!
Thank
you.
Dengan
mengucapkan kalimah “Bismillahir
Rahman Nir Rahim” dan bertawakkal kepada Allah Subhanahu Wataala jua,
peramba, kaola, saya sukacita melancarkan “Royal Brunei Airlines
Internet Booking Engine”.