The Daily Brunei Resources

The Oxford Business Group reported the following: +++++ Brunei Darussalam: US offers helping hand with renewable energy Asia | 20 May 2013 With solar and biowaste power plants already under development, Brunei Darussalam has demonstrated its willingness to meet the renewable energy goals set by the ASEAN community. A recent agreement with the US could provide an extra boost to these efforts and encourage investors. In March 2013, the US Department of Energy deputy secretary, Daniel Poneman, and the Brunei Darussalam minister of energy, Mohammad Yasmin Umar, met at the prime minister’s office, with the officials proposing to set up a joint working group on renewable energy. The group, to be called the East Asia Summit Energy Cooperation Task Force, follows in the wake of a larger initiative, the US-Asia Pacific Comprehensive Partnership for a Sustainable Energy Future, which is committed to increasing access to electricity across Asia. In line with regional priorities, the partner...

Oxford Business Group reported the following: ++++++ Brunei Darussalam: New era for farming and food production Asia | 9 May 2013 A drive to improve food security under way in Brunei Darussalam will see the government release land for livestock production, develop irrigation systems and step up cooperation with other countries. The move forms part of a broader bid to galvanise the agriculture sector into helping the Sultanate achieve food self-sufficiency in the longer term. In March, the Minister of Industry and Primary Resources (MIPR) revealed plans to commit 1000 ha of land to livestock farming. Pehin Dato Paduka Bakar said the move would help reduce Brunei’s reliance on livestock imports from Australia, which was limiting domestic production. The land is expected to be used for concentrated animal feeding operations. In the same month, the ministry said it would release details this year of an irrigation project earmarked for rice-farming sites in Belait. It added that Sengkuan...

I was in Tehran last week attending the 1st Cultural Ministers Meeting of the Asian Cooperation Dialogue (ACD). It was not the first time I was in Tehran, the last time was in 2008 when I was representing my Minister of Development attending the Asia Pacific Housing Ministers' Meeting. Last time was a much longer trip but this time round I was so busy that I could not go out and see much of Tehran. The place obviously has a lot of progress since the 5 years that I went there. One of the images which I did not realise during my last trip was the Khomeini Airport in Tehran. It looked like this: And I thought to myself where have I seen this curved structure before? Then I remembered, we have the same style of airport terminal currently being built here in Brunei at the Brunei International Airport: Hmmmm.... Not a really original design.... Though I have to admit that the curved parking roofs at our airport are an innovation. I have not seen those before in other a...

Geographical place names give insight into country's local culture Bandar Seri Begawan, 13th May 2013 - GEOGRAPHICAL place names allow the rest of the world to get a clear insight into the local culture of a country, the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports ( MCYS ) said yesterday. Speaking during the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names Asia, Southeast Seminar, Hj Mohd Rozan Dato Paduka Hj Mohd Yunos said there are many theories about the origin of the name of this country "Brunei Darussalam " with the most famous being that it was passed down the generations through a poem by Awang Semaun . "It is about how the exclamation ' Baru Nah' on the discovery of the Brunei River that was to be used as a new settlement for families later became 'Brunei'," the permanent secretary said in his keynote address, "An Introduction to the History of Geographical Place Names in Brunei". ...

I purchased this 1882 map of Borneo and the Celebes recently. Even though Sarawak has more or less expanded by then, this map curiously enough still noted that Sarawak was still owned by Brunei or Broenei as noted by the German carthographer who did the map. Half of North Borneo or Sabah as it is known today seemed to be administered by the 'Soeloe' as spelled by that German cartographer. Whereas Sarawak is restricted to the mouth of the Sarawak River. This map shows the political Borneo of around mid 19th century and not during the later 19th century even though it was produced during the latter end of the 19th century.