HRH Brunei Crown Prince Launches $52m FDI Project

Crown Prince launches $52-million FDI project
on: May 11, 2017

| James Kon |

HIS Royal Highness Prince Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah ibni His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah, the Crown Prince and Senior Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office officially launched one of the largest foreign direct investment (FDI) projects in Brunei, yesterday.

The $52-million SCTSB & VAM@BRN OCTG (oil country tubular goods) threading plant and service centre, located on a 10-hectare government-leased site at Salambigar Industrial Park, is a joint venture between SC Tubular Solutions (B) Sdn Bhd (SCTSB) and VAM®BRN Sdn Bhd, and a prestigious addition to the increasing list of foreign direct investment projects in Brunei, a newfound destination for many top-tier global companies.

The threading plant and service centre has provided employment to 87 locals who make up 78 per cent of the total work force. The FDI project is estimated to contribute about $7 million in annual local spending, besides providing various spin-off opportunities to local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the fields of logistics, construction and engineering and metal fabrication.

VAM®BRN is a collaborative FDI project between Japanese firm Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation (NSSMC) and Sumitomo Corporation and Vallourec Tubes SAS from France.

SCTSB is a Sumitomo Corporation Group company which came into Brunei as a foreign direct investment company.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was greeted on arrival for the launching ceremony by Pehin Datu Singamanteri Colonel (Rtd) Dato Seri Setia (Dr) Awang Haji Mohammad Yasmin bin Haji Umar, Minister of Energy and Industry at the Prime Minister’s Office; Stuart M’Cartney, General Manager of SC Tubular Solutions (B) Sdn Bhd; and Ohashi Tomoyuki, Managing Director of VAM®BRN Sdn Bhd.

Also in attendance were the Cabinet Ministers, Ambassador of Japan to Brunei Darussalam Noriko Iki, senior government officials, representatives of Brunei Shell Petroleum Co Sdn Bhd (BSP) and other investor companies. Some 120 guests from related organisations were also present at the event.

Ohashi Tomoyuki in his opening remarks said that the plant will bring new business development opportunities to Brunei not only in the form of direct hires and local spend but also ancillary support services.“It also represents a fantastic opportunity for local staff to develop their technical and operational skill sets in learning from industry leading professionals, and will provide true, long-term and sustainable, value-creating capability to the oil and gas industry of Brunei Darussalam.

“Consisting of market leading technology and supply chain business concepts, this is the first time that a combined local threading and supply chain management facility is established outside Japan,” he said.

He also expressed appreciation for the conducive investment and business environment created by the Government of His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, especially the many reforms under the Ease of Doing Business (EODB) initiative under the leadership of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, with the support of the Energy and Industry Department at the Prime Minister’s Office and BSP, that has made this foreign direct investment project a reality.

He also thanked the Foreign Direct Investment and Downstream Industry (FDI-DI) Steering and Working Committee and the FDI Action and Support Centre (FAST) for their support.

“We firmly believe that this project will allow us to contribute to Brunei Vision 2035 and we are committed to delivering our promises as a responsible corporate citizen of Brunei Darussalam,” he said.

For more than 40 years, NSSMC and Sumitomo have been supplying seamless oil country tubular pipes for drilling activities to BSP, the leading upstream oil and natural gas company in Brunei.

Oil country tubular goods (OCTG) is a family of seamless rolled products consisting of drill pipe, casing and tubing subjected to loading conditions according to their specific application.

In 2014, BSP, NSSMC and Sumitomo signed a contract to develop integrated supply chain management and local threading services for seamless tubulars in Brunei, as part of their effort to increase local content including opportunities for local employment.

Haji Kamaludin bin Haji Bungsu, Deputy Managing Director and HR Director of BSP, said “On behalf of Brunei Shell Petroleum Company Sdn Bhd, I would like to relay my congratulations to SC Tubular Solutions (B) Sdn Bhd (SCTSB) and VAM®BRN SDN BHD (VAM® BRN) on the opening of their facility at the Salambigar Industrial Park today.”

BSP, he said, “is extremely proud to be part of the success in creating one of the largest FDIs in Brunei and demonstrates the strong relationship between His Majesty’s Government, BSP, NSSMC and Sumitomo Corporation to mature this business opportunity. This is crucial as part of the supply chain activity in supporting the oil and gas industry in the country.

“This will generate not only added value to the company, but also has a significant spin-off from the local business development standpoint, thus creating jobs for our locals. BSP believes this will attract more foreign investments into Brunei.”

Since the contract signing with NSSMC and Sumitomo Corporation in 2014, VAM®BRN had commenced OCTG local threading services in November 2016 and has enabled SCTSB to commence its provision of supply chain management services in 2017.

Since then, both companies have been actively operating and supporting BSP hydrocarbon maturation activities.

BSP and both Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation and Sumitomo Corporation have a long partnership of over 40 years.

Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin