Yang Mulia Ibu Adiwoso, the Executive Director of NAM CSSTC,

Distinguished participants and experts from NAM member countries,

Representatives from our local agencies,

Ladies and gentlemen,

 

Assalamualaikum Warahmatullah Hiwabarakatuh and Good Morning to everyone.

 

It is my great pleasure to welcome you all to this Meeting of Experts and Decision Makers of NAM Member Countries on “Increasing Prospects for Rapid and Sustainable Socio-Economic Development through Business Incubators and Entrepreneurship”.

 

In particular, I would like to welcome our foreign delegates, many of whom I believe, is your first time to step on our beautiful and peaceful land of Brunei Darussalam. I hope that you will enjoy our hospitality.

 

I would also like to extend my appreciation to the NAM CSSTC for co-organising this important meeting. It provides us with a venue to share information, exchange experience and learn from each other on our mutual efforts in promoting the socio-economic development of our respective nations. This meeting, in particular, will allow us to deliberate on the business incubators and entrepreneurship, as mechanisms in such endeavour.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We acknowledge the important role and contribution of SMEs in the socio-economic development of any nation. They are recognised as the engine of growth and the basis of competitiveness for a rapid and sustainable economy. They make up an overwhelming proportion of our national production and provide the largest employment opportunities for our populations. They have become the main focus in the contemporary development policy, especially in the era of globalisation.

 

In Brunei Darussalam, the growth of SMEs is crucial in our economic development objective. Various policies and support programs have been established, and implemented, in our effort to develop our SMEs. These include business incubators as well as various entrepreneurship programs. We see that these two mechanisms are important in the creation of new enterprises and their opportunities for survival as well as in sustaining the competitiveness of our existing business establishments.

 

But the fact remains that SMEs are facing various challenges to survive, let alone, to grow. The number of survival of the new start-ups, in both industrialised and developing countries alike, continues to be low. Limited access to resources is persistently cited as barriers to SMEs development.

 

This include among others, financing, infrastructure, market, information as well as technology. Equally important is the entrepreneurial skills that can be enhanced through various human capacity building initiatives for SMEs.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

While, business incubators and entrepreneurship have always form part of the SME development policy, there prevails an urgent need for effective and efficient approaches to both mechanisms.

 

I am confident that, this Meeting will be able to showcase some best practices that can contribute to the successful formulation of such approaches. I am happy to note the presence of experts among us that will assist in our discussions.

 

I hope that we all will be able to ‘adopt and adapt’ those approaches to our own environment. That is to say, we will be able to substantially address the particular needs of our respective SMEs and thus provide them, especially the newly created SMEs, with all the necessary resources to improve their chances for survival and success.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

I look forward to interesting and successful deliberations.

 

And once again, I wish to welcome you all and hope that you have a pleasant stay in Brunei Darussalam.

 

Thank you

 

Wabillahi Taufiq Walhidayah, Wassalamualaikum Warahmatullah Hi Wabarakatuh