ASEAN Economic Ministers Friday signed several agreements in their ministerial meeting to make preparation for the 11th ASEAN Summit and related meetings to be held from this Monday until Wednesday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Before the signing ceremony, several meetings were held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre. It began with the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting for Foreign Ministers. Attending the meeting was the Second Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Pehin Dato Seri Paduka Lim Jock Seng. It was followed by the ASEAN-China Ministerial Meeting.

At the meeting, a report was submitted comprising a review of the ASEAN-China dialogue relation in the last 15 years and a set of recommendations to strengthen the relations in the next 15 years and beyond. The ASEAN
Economic Ministers later held the signing of documents of the Agreement to Establish and Implement the ASEAN Single Window.

The Agreement on the ASEAN Harmonised Electrical   and Electronic Equipment Regulatory Regime and the Mutual Recognition Arrangement of Engineering. At noon, Pehin Dato Lim Jock Seng and other ASEAN Foreign Ministers plus Three attended a working lunch. In the afternoon, they attended the ASEAN-Japan Foreign
Ministerial Meeting.

The ASEAN Ministerial Meetings with other dialogue partners continued late Friday afternoon after their meeting
with the People’s Republic of China and Japan. The ministers also signed two agreements on Economic Cooperation
between ASEAN and the Republic of Korea.

A The Second Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Pehin Dato Seri Paduka Lim Jock Seng attended the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting and meetings with dialogue partner, Republic of Korea.
During this meeting, the ministers discussed, among other things, matters on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation
between ASEAN and the Republic of Korea. The ASEAN Ministers also held their meeting with another dialogue partner, India. During both meetings, the ministers also exchanged views on regional and international issues as
well as reviewed the progress of cooperations between ASEAN and the Dialogue Partners.
In addition, ASEAN and the Republic of Korea signed two agreements, namely the Trade in Goods Agreement and Dispute Settlement Mechanism Agreement. Signing on behalf of Brunei Darussalam was the Second Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Pehin Dato Lim Jock Seng. Both agreements were under the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation between ASEAN and Korea. The Agreement on Trade in Goods which will commence on the 1st of July next year provides greater market access to both parties through the liberalization of tariff regime.

The Ambassador of Japan to Brunei Darussalam expressed his appreciation for the maintenance of security in the sultanate which has resulted in a low threat of terrorism as well as its worthy reputation as an “Abode of Peace”. He also said that Japan and Brunei are real friends, and that means that both countries help each other in times of hardship as well as during the good times. His Excellency Yoshinobu Nisaka was speaking last night at a reception marking the 72nd birthday of His Majesty Emperor Akihito. The function was held at the International Convention Centre in Berakas.

Present at the ceremony on behalf of His Majesty’s Government was the Minister of Education, Pehin Dato Seri Setia Haji Abdul Rahman. In his remarks, His Excellency also touched on the good relations between Brunei and Japan. He said Japanese companies are currently planning the establishment of a factory in Brunei which will consequently contribute to the increase of employment in the country. This situation is the result of the
continuous endeavours of many people including the people of the relevant companies and government organisations as well as the people of the Japanese community in this country.

The three-day Microsoft Government Leaders’ Forum hosted by New Delhi concluded Friday with a keynote address by the Chairman and Chief Software Architect, Microsoft Corporation. Brunei Darussalam was among the 15 country-representation from the Asia Pacific Region who had the privilege to hear and discussed, among other things, IT development issues hands-on from the personal views of Bill Gates, Chairman of Microsoft Corporation.
Themed “Leading in a Connected World”, the forum discussed a wide range of issues presented in three dynamic discussion forum tracks on Knowledge Economy, Governance and Education.

The Deputy Minister of Communications, Dato Paduka Haji Yussof, who led Brunei’s delegation to the forum, had the opportunity to have talks with Bill Gates and other Senior Microsoft Executives. In brief, the talks catered
for an opportunity for further cooperation and collaboration between Microsoft and Brunei Darussalam, particularly in the areas of ICT, Human Resources Development and Software Development in the very near future.
Dato Haji Yusoff expressed his hopes to see future cooperation between Microsoft and Brunei Darussalam through a memorandum of understanding soon. The cooperation intends to cover ICT focus areas among other things, ICT human capacity building, software content development and innovation programmes.