BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

Sunday, June 6, 2010
A STUDY to look into ways of helping small and medium entreprises (SMEs) reduce the costs of operation in Brunei is under way and the findings of the study are expected to be made at the end of July next month.

A committee comprising various government departments and bussiness organisations including the Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources (MIPR) and Ghanim International Food Corporation Sdn Bhd and, has been tasked to solve the high cost of SMEs who are trying to enter the global market.

Noel Shield, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Ghanim International told The Brunei Times yesterday at the Fifth International Halal Market Conference (IHMC) that despite being in the “infantry days”, the committee will expedite the process of the study as the committee views it as a matter of urgency.

Past reports stated that the committee had already done a “series of work” and would only report them back to the government in the next couple of months. “We’ll report back to the committee at the end of July,” Shield said.

Although details of the findings were not shared, he hopes that the local SMEs would benefit from this study in the sense that it would reduce the cost of transportation of goods out of the country and cost of imports of raw materials.

“We are looking at basically the cost of logistics and the cost of raw materials and the long-term aim of course is to get our SMEs into a competitive position, because one of the biggest problems that we have in Brunei is the high cost of production,” he explained.

The CEO added, “The overall effect would be, making the local SMEs more competitive in the regional and global market.” Delivering a presentation titled “Developing a National Halal Brand” on the first day of IHMC yesterday, he provided an insight into the development of Brunei’s very own halal brand and the country’s halal accreditation procedures.

He spoke of how credible the standards were as it was based on the highest standards of Islamic Principles.

He also touched on the brand’s target market, product selection, sales and marketing of the brand as well as their Hari Raya Gift Hampers programme. The Brunei Times

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