Closing Session

Closing Remarks by Dr. Azaharaini Haji Mohd. Jamil

Acting Director, Civil Service Institute

Co-Chairman

Experts Group Meeting on NAM Reform:

Privatisation and Public-Private Partnership

16 – 18 December 2002

Yang Mulia

Mr. Omar Halim

Executive Director

Non-Aligned Movement Centre for South-South Technical Cooperation,

Officers of the NAM-CSSTC,

Distinguished Experts and Participants from NAM Member Countries,

Colleagues and Friends, and

Ladies and Gentlemen.

Assalammualaikum Warahmatulah Hiwabarakatuh. A very good Morning to you all.

First of all, allow me to thank Mr. Omar Halim, the Executive Director Non-Aligned Movement Centre for South-South Technical Cooperation, based in Jakarta, for giving this Institute the opportunity to collaborate with NAM-CSSTC in hosting Experts Group Meeting for the second time this year. The first one was in January 2002 on Implementation of Policies and Programmes Towards Competitive Sustainable Development. This time, the theme of the second Experts Group Meeting is on NAM Reform: Privatisation and Public-Private Partnership.  The two meetings or the themes are interrelated in that they are aimed at finding means and ways of promoting greater productivity and efficiency in the provision of public services to the people. The underlying problems to be tackled include increased competitiveness in the global market and alleviation of poverty which are, as I understand, the main focus of NAM-CSSTC in the provision of programmes for its member countries.

In the last two days or so, we have heard about Privatisation  and Public/Private Partnership - what they are? We have come to know Best Practices and Strategies of Privatisation and Public/Private Partnership of some NAM member countries. We also know better than before, certainly for me personally, the Pros and Cons of Privatisation and Public/Private Partnership.  And the Experts Group has also made some recommendations to address some issues of importance on the subjects. The question now is where do we go from here?

What is certain is that in the environment of increased globalisation and hence, intense international competition, 'survival' is the main focus of development. There is little choice for us but to carry out some form of economic reforms. Privatisation and Public/Private Partnership are possible options for adoption but we know, based on the experience of other countries, that sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. There are so many variables that need to be considered and some of these variables have been highlighted in the last two and half days meeting.

What I can say at this point in time, for myself and may be for Bruneian colleagues present here in this hall, is that this meeting has given us some insights into the concepts of Privatisation and Public/Private Partnership and the related issues  which need to be clearly understood before embarking on any reforms in public services. Likewise, we hope that the participants of the meeting have benefited from the presentations of the experts and country reports and from the interactions with the experts and among the participants. Although, we have come to the end of the meeting, we hope that this is the beginning of our friendship and networking for future collaboration and cooperation in these areas. For us, it is not 'the know how' of Privatisation and Public-Private Partnership which is important as an output of the meeting but rather it is the network that is developed which will facilitate continuous learning from the experiences of others in the network.

I must admit that we would not have been able to organise this Experts Group Meeting successfully without the contributions and support of many agencies and individuals. We would like to thank the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Department of Immigration, Radio Television Brunei, Adat Istiadat Negara, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources, Prime Minister’s Office, Information Department, Economic Planning and Development Department, Custom and Excise Department, University of Brunei Darussalam, Civil Aviation Department, Language and Literature Bureau and Tourism Department. We are very thankful to many individuals for their cooperation and assistance in the organisation of this meeting, particularly the staff members of the Civil Service Institute. We would like to thank the Experts or Speakers for sharing their ideas on the subjects and to the participants for preparing and presenting information on the status of Privatisation and Public/Private Partnership in their countries.

May I once again convey our appreciation to NAM-CSSTC  for giving us the opportunity to host the Experts Group Meeting for the second time and we hope that the participants have gained something out of the meeting. We also hope that the participants, particularly those who have come to Brunei for the first time, have had enough time to visit the various places of interest and learned about our people and culture during their short stay in this country.

Finally, I wish our foreign participants a safe journey home. Bon Voyage, Merry Christmas, Happy new year and hope to see you again in the future.

Thank you.

Wabillahi taufik walhidayah wasalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh