THE impact of
French companies in the Bruneian business scene is expected to grow in the
coming years as there are a number of companies with developing activities in
the country, the President of the French Bruneian Business Association (FBBA)
said yesterday.
Pierre Imhof told The Brunei Times on the sidelines of the FBBA's
Annual General Meeting that companies, especially those involved in the oil and
gas sector, is bound to grow in the next few years.
"You have one of the major (oil and gas) operators here with
Total, which is a big player in Brunei and in terms of banks, we have (in
cooperation) BNP Paribas, aviation contracts with French companies, other
sub-contractors such as SDV Logistic, Spie Oil and Gas Services, to name a
few," said Imhof.
Tan Cheng Voon, secretary of the FBBA, said that French investment in
Brunei has been "constant" in the past few years, but with the
association, they are hoping to improve on the business relations.
The FBBA has doubled its members over the past five years, from about
50 to more than 100 now.
Imhof said that a large majority of members are Bruneians who have
businesses with French companies.
"Take for example, in the car industry, there's Renault and
Peugeot, that French presence is here through Bruneian partners and the
Bruneians are our members. We have many distributors of French brands here in
Brunei," he said, adding that is the way Bruneian companies get involved
with the FBBA.
He said: "The FBBA is to provide a mutual form of exchange for
French and Bruneian business partners as a means to strengthen business
relationship. We also look to disseminate economic information to members on
matters of interest. That is our main focus."
The association will be bringing activities in the form of business
talks where topics are "relevant, close to the heart, or hot", for
where members seek clarification or more information.
Imhof shared that during the talks, usually high profile speakers are
invited, and the most recent was regarding labour regulations, entitled
"An update on the employment regulation of Brunei Darussalam: Effect on
SMEs".
"Our activities must bring our members information which is
relevant for their business, which are of interest to them. This year, we will
have maybe two to three more talks and we are expecting a hot topic for one of
our future meets," said the FBBA president.
Next month, there will be a talk feature the Brunei Economic
Development Board (BEDB), and the next two will follow in July and then
September.
Imhof wants to keep the FBBA more "active and creative" as
compared to the others, so besides the business talks, the association also holds
social and sports activities.
Besides the mentioned activities, the association's role is also to
bring in delegations from France, be it French companies, delegations or
individuals.
"When they come to Brunei, FBBA, besides the French Embassy, is
the natural point of contact to gather information. Recently we had French
companies that came and to get some information about the market and country,
it will typically be the responsibility for the FBBA to provide," he said.
GOH DE NO
The Brunei Times
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