10 May 2019
Bandar Seri Begawan – CIMB Investment Bank Berhad Brunei recently hosted the Infrastructure Development and Capital Markets seminar at the Ministry of Finance and Economy recently. Deputy Minister of Finance and Economy (Economy) at the Ministry of Finance and Economy, Dr Awang Haji Abdul Manaf bin Haji Metussin graced the event as guest of honour.
In his speech, Dr Awang highlighted the need for Brunei Darussalam to not only diversify its source of revenue away from the oil and gas sector, but also to consider alternative and diversified sources of financing for other infrastructure projects alongside these economic diversification efforts.
He commented, “For survival and sustainability, it is critical for businesses to innovate or at least keep up with developments to maintain respective competitiveness. Inevitably, this also usually means having to invest in infrastructure and incur significant capital expenditures. Traditionally, the primary source of financing for infrastructure projects is by the Government. Over the years, we have seen a push for diversified project financing models including private public partnerships (PPP) and also joint venture initiatives undertaken by various agencies under the ministry.”
“Developing alternative sources of financing for Government infrastructure projects, either directly via the Ministry of Finance and Economy and relevant ministries or projects undertaken by Government-linked companies like the telcos for example, remain one of the key areas that the Ministry of Finance and Economy is focused on,” he added.
Chief Executive Officer of CIMB Investment Bank Berhad, Jefferi Hashim said, “Being ASEAN’s fifth largest banking group with a strong regional footprint, CIMB has deep regional expertise in structuring the right tailor-made financial solutions for clients. We also understand that the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) as we know it today has had a staggering impact on all of us whether in banking or telecommunications, logistics and even healthcare and agriculture. It is against this backdrop that we have organised today’s session with a focus on the telco industry, which inevitably will be at the forefront of and arguably the most impacted by 4IR developments. As CIMB itself focuses on digitalising its workforce and fine-tuning its solutions to keep up with the times, we hope to also help clients face the challenges of and reap the opportunities afforded by 4IR technologies.”
The seminar which focused on the telco sector as a case study, included presentations by Ray Choy, Regional Head of Research for CIMB Group Treasury and Markets; Varun Matta, Head of Telecoms, Media and Technology Coverage, CIMB Group; and Shamsun Anwar Hussain, Managing Director of Wholesale Banking, CIMB Group. David Lee, Head of Infrastructure and Project Finance Ratings from Malaysian Rating Corporation Berhad (MARC) also presented his specialist rating agency perspective on telco infrastructure development.
The event was attended by 60 local stakeholders from the Ministry of Finance and Economy, Darussalam Assets, Autoriti Monetari Brunei Darussalam, Bursa Brunei Darussalam, government agencies and representatives from the financial and telco sectors.
