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Brunei Finds New Economy A Challenge
by Kazi Mahmood for IslamOnline
KUALA LUMPUR, May 16 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Brunei Darussalam is finding the New Economy a challenge, Hasanal Bolkiah, the Sultan of the tiny nation situated in Borneo, said on Tuesday.
Bolkiah stressed that there was an urgent need for nations in the Asia-Pacific region to develop its human capacity so as to narrow down the widening of the digital divide in the advent of the so-called New Economy.
"How can our people benefit from the opportunities now opening up for them in the New Economy? It is a very demanding question," he said in his keynote address at the opening of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) High Level Meeting on Human Capacity Building (HCB) in Beijing.
Bolkiah said that in the rapid development now taking place in technology, people have no choice but to acquire skills and knowledge continuously and quickly.
The summit on Human Capacity Building is focusing on human resource development issues particularly in the rapid development of new technology that forms the backbone of the New Economy.
"Each economy in the Asia-Pacific must face it in its own way. Each one will respond, of course, at its own pace.
"In Brunei Darussalam, we are also committed to helping our people take advantage of the new opportunities that are opening up," stated the monarch.
He said that as part of this effort his government has been working closely with representatives from business, education, and training institutions.
On the regional front, he added, everyone knows what each one wants to achieve.
"A barrier we have to overcome, however, is the fact that APEC members are at varying stages of development.
"To overcome this obstacle we believe that new technology has much to offer by way of helping the development process," he added.
He noted the changes that are currently taking place in educational institutions and through business initiatives and international organizations.
"I am therefore sure that this gathering will be extremely valuable," added the Sultan.
Extrapolating on the high exigencies of the knowledge-based "New Economy" he said the country must equip itself with skills that are constantly updated. Such skills, in turn, have to be brought to an international level of competitiveness.
"Above all, if our people are to prosper in the New Economy, they must feel they have a personal stake in its success," he said.
"In other words, they need to be more than mere consumers. We have to make sure that knowledge and the means to disseminate it are not kept in the hands of a few. As well as this, we need to do all we can to encourage creativity and innovation," he observed.
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