P680-B Brunei projects to generate jobs for Filipinos

More jobs in Brunei for Filipinos are anticipated as four major projects that have a combined investment cost of more than Brunei 20 billion (about P680 billion) are currently being pushed in that country.

Filipinos are expected to greatly benefit from employment opportunities from the four major projects selected and proposed by cooperative Koperasi Bumiputera Bersatu Berhad (KBBB), which are geared toward enhancing and complementing the developmental goals of the Brunei Darussalam BIMP-EAGA Business Council (BDBEBC).

BIMP-EAGA is the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East-Asian Growth Area.

“The four new projects in Brunei pose exciting job opportunities for our fellow Filipino workers. The need for around 20,000 workers in Brunei will assist the government in its job creation efforts,” Jose Silvestre Natividad, one of the consultants of KBBB for the four projects in Brunei, said.

Natividad, who is also the president of local renewable energy firm Sunwest Water and Electric Co., further said that Filipinos have a competitive edge because they are known around the world as diligent and hard workers.

The projects form part of the memorandum of understanding signed between KBBB chairperson Suharani binti Haji Abd Ladi and Pengiran Haji Mohd Yusof, the executive chairman of the BDBEBC.

These projects are aimed at further developing growth in the BIMP-EAGA.

The projects include a new transport system for the Trans Borneo Railways, the setting up of the Asean Halal Park, new buses for the Trans-Borneo Bus Services and the proposed Darrusalam Airport.

The 4,440-kilometer Trans-Borneo Railway system will connect Bandar Seri Begawan to the main cities in Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia, and will be built at an estimated cost of B20 billion.

The Asean Halal Park, on the other hand, is an integrated project that will set up 1,000 Halal-certified manufacturing companies. This will set the Asean Halal Park as the “Halal Hub of the World,” making it the strongest manufacturing center for premium Halal products for distribution across the global market. Asean is the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

KBBB is a cooperative of voluntary associations established in 2006 with the goal of enhancing the social and economic wellbeing of its members and the community.