Brunei Darussalam Essay

Brunei Darussalam is a small and independent country, under an Islamic Monarchy, located in the northern coast of Borneo Island, which is bordered by two East Malaysian states, Sarawak and Sabah. According to the Population and Housing Census Update of 2016, the estimated population of Brunei Darussalam is around 422,678, with 49.8% of the population below the age of 29.7 years old (PMO Brunei Darussalam, 2016). The population is mostly concentrated in urban areas around the capital city, Bandar Seri Begawan, followed by the cities of Kuala Belait and Tutong. The Brunei Nationality Act of 1962 defines the Bruneian nationality as any person, born in Brunei Darussalam before, on, or after 1 January 1962, who is commonly accepted as belonging to one of the following indigenous groups of the Malay race, namely, Belait, Bisaya, Brunei, Dusun, Kedayan, Murut, or Tutong (Brunei Nationality Act 1962 2002, 4). These indigenous groups consist of about 66% of the population in Brunei Darussalam, followed by local Chinese (10.1%) and a considerable expatriate community (23.9%) (PMO Brunei Darussalam, 2016).

Brunei Darussalam is governed by the principles of the national tradition of the ‘Melayu Islam Beraja’ (Malay Islamic Monarchy), which combines the Malay culture, Islam as the national religion and a political authority under the guidance of

To be accurate, the introduction of policies and implementation of strategies towards economic diversification can be identified in the Second National Development Plan (1962–1966). However, the failure to diversify the economy from the 1960s to early 2000s is pointed to a weak corporate sector, heavy bureaucracy, lack of human capital, inexistence of foreign direct investment, lack of scale, and high cost structure (Bhaskaran 2007,