At
the Third Meeting of the Brunei Darussalam Information Technology (BIT) Council
20th
September 2001
1st
Floor, Ministry of Communications Building,
Brunei
Darussalam
Assalamu’
Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh
And
a very Good Morning,
Distinguished
members of the BIT Council,
Ladies
and Gentlemen
Let
me first express my highest appreciation to all of you for your attendance this
morning. We last met in March when we discussed very important if not crucial
priority areas as follows:
i.
The formation of the BIT Corporation;
ii.
The Terms of Reference for
an International Advisory Panel;
iii. Discussion on the current and future developments in the e-Government and e-Business initiatives respectively, of which are now, I believe gaining momentum towards its implementing phase (under the able work of the e-Government Program Executive Committee - EGPEC) and the finalisation of its much awaited e-Business Strategic Framework (for the e-Business Program Executive Committee - EBPEC).
Your
presence today certainly reaffirms our commitment in our responsibility to
advise His Majesty’s Government in matters pertaining to IT; to assist Brunei
to achieve the Vision, Mission and Goal of the National IT Strategic Plan for
the Year 2000 and Beyond; to advise, formulate and implement activities with
regard to development and usage of IT. That
is why, I believe, it is now timely that we see solid and substantive action
taken if not now but in this very
near future.
This
is imperative as the “ICT revolution is evolving fast – happening too fast -
and that the term New Economy is now unbelievably receding to a path of almost
uncertainty” (Economist, July 2001). This seems to be frightening to small
developing economies in particular as they are more likely to be the back
seaters of the Global New Economy and the followers of global trends and not the
players. I believe this is the time
we must tell ourselves – this is the time to take a leading role at least in
the regional context. Regional
hubs are fast arising in the ASEAN region for example, with the coming up of technology
parks in Manila, and the established technological parks of Singapore and
Malaysia, I say this is the time not to be left behind but to take active
part. And even perhaps to
eventually become one of those leading names in ASEAN or sub-regional BIMP-EAGA
Growth Area.
Dear
Colleagues,
Over
the last couple of weeks, the uncertainty of globalisation and investments
including IT and TELCO stocks have probably reached unprecedented all time high!
The recent shocking news of Attacks in the US has rocked the world with
amazing speculation, causing the technology stocks to slide down.
These are certainly issues we are all
aware of and how we could
take the opportunities available in this rush of fluctuating speculations.
Let me now
quickly review what are the other important areas that we should look into and
develop further so as to strengthen
our national IT national masterplan.
I believe the following
areas are worth being addressing:
i.
Further advancements in the developments of e-Learning and the actual
implementation of this program, as education plays a pivotal role in the
development of growth sectors, particularly in the ICT sector;
ii.
The roll-out of e-Banking services in Brunei Darussalam, as such banks
like Baiduri, IDBB and HSBC have taken the
initiatives in this area. I
welcome the role of IDBB in particular being one of our local prominent
Bank in the country, and one with
definite potential to grow;
iii.
The lessons learned with the on-going work of the e-ASEAN initiative,
strategically run by two groupings – the e-ASEAN Task Force as the
government-private sector advisory group to the ASEAN Economic Ministers, and
the e-ASEAN Working Group – the actual coordinator and implementor of the e-ASEAN
Framework Agreement. In this regard, there are various e-ASEAN work programs that
we can certainly learn, follow or take the initiative to lead in areas like
e-government, e-commerce, capacity building for ICT, learning forum on
Certification Authorities, and ASEAN Incubators Program, among some to mention.
Ladies
and Gentlemen,
My
attention has been drawn to Incubators’
Program under the e-ASEAN initiatives, one
area that I believe is relevant to our young and yet to mature market, of
potential technopreneurs in the country. I
have been thinking about this idea for sometime and am pleased to inform you now that the
Ministry of Communications is finalising a
conceptual paper on Incubators’ Programs in Brunei Darussalam, for
eventual submission and approval of
the Cabinet. I
feel that it is also timely that we should have some kind of incubators’
program to nurture our young potentials and innovation to be put to good use,
and to generate employment and business opportunities to the young generation.
I also see that such program could ultimately benefit our country and
help get our economy moving forward.
Once
again, I thank you all for your presence this morning, and I do not wish to make
these opening remarks any longer as we have quite an agenda to discuss today.
Thank
you.
-END-