Brunei Darussalam is one of the oldest kingdoms in South East Asia.

As a small country, both in size and population, our future hinges on the quality of our people.

The development of our human resources is an area in which we need to do well as it is decisive in determining the success of our diversification programme.

We need foreign skills to stay competitive.

There is no conflict between favouring Islamic and traditional values and being more open and international.

Asean is obviously a very important association for us. Over the past 30 years Asean has made great strides in regional cooperation covering a number of areas, although recently it has been under strain because of the financial crisis and other challenges.

Brunei Darussalam is one of the oldest kingdoms in South East Asia.