Izah Azahari

Neighbouring nations will benefit from Brunei Darussalam, the only country in Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) that implemented Syariah Law as the state law with provisions for 100 per cent assurance on Syariah-compliant products and services.

This was brought up in a forum titled ‘Development of Halal Economy in BIMP-EAGA: SME Development in Brunei on Moving toward Halal Economy’ organised by the Brunei Darussalam BIMP-EAGA Business Council yesterday at the Main Auditorium of the Design and Technology Building in Anggerek Desa Technology Park as a Pre-BruHAS (Brunei Halal Showcase) 2019 event.

The topic of the forum centred on the implementation of the Syariah Law in Brunei Darussalam that has made the country an ideal gateway for BIMP-EAGA on the development of Halal economy, where according to the latest report – Halal Expo Dubai UAE, Halal Economy is estimated to touch the

USD6.4 trillion mark by 2018/2019 against USD3.2 trillion reported in 2012.

The forum also touched on some of the struggles local business owners facefor exporting their products to countries outside of Brunei.

Present at the forum were members of business associations, public agencies and the public.

The panel of speakers comprised of Head of SME Development at the Brunei Darussalam BIMP-EAGA Business Council Captain (Rtd) Zailan bin Pehin Datu Kerma Setia Major (Rtd) Dato Seri Laila Jasa Mohd Don in his capacity as the moderator of the forum panel, Chief Operation Officer of International Halal Trade Hub and Services Sdn Bhd (IHTHS) Ramlee bin Begawan Pehin Khatib Dato Paduka Haji Zainuddin, Staff Officer at the National Chamber of Commerce and Industry Brunei Darussalam Dayangku Hanna Afiqah binti Pengiran Hassanal Ali Saifuddin, Manager Head of International Research and Cooperation/SMED BIMP-EAGA at DARe (Darussalam Enterprise) Muhammad Zolrimi bin Haji Muhaimin and Staff Officer at the Brunei BIMP-EAGA Business Council Bagazale bin Bujang.

The Brunei Halal Showcase (BruHAS) is an annual event organised by the Ministry of Energy, Manpower and Industry (MEMI) to impart and spread awareness on the concept of Halalan Thayyiban and the inference of Syariah compliance.

This year’s BruHAS 2019, co-chaired by the Brunei Darussalam BIMP-EAGA Business Council, will be held from November 11-15 where forums as well as seminars by Universiti Islam Sultan Sharif Ali (UNISSA).