Stepping up Brunei ties with borders now reopened
Published on: Friday, September 30, 2022
By: Bernama
Hajiji in an audience with Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah at Istana Nurul Iman.
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN: Sabah looks forward to enhanced bilateral relations with Brunei Darussalam now that borders on both sides have reopened following the Covid-19 pandemic.Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor is optimistic that co-operation in various fields, especially trade, would grow seeing that Sabah’s trade with Brunei grew more than four-fold from RM311.7 million in 2017 to RM1.48 billion in August 2022.
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Sabah always values the relations with Brunei, said the Chief Minister during an audience with the Ruler of Brunei Darussalam, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah at Istana Nurul Iman, Thursday.
Hajiji also shared with Sultan Hassanal the achievements of the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah-Barisan Nasional (GRS-BN) State Government’s Hala Tuju Sabah Maju Jaya (SMJ) development roadmap.
Since the GRS-BN State Government took over the reins of administration two years ago, Sabah recorded RM5.449 billion in revenue in 2021, achieved RM389 million in domestic investments from January to June 2022 and RM9.9 billion in Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) from January to September this year.
Hajiji said Sabah also welcomed visitors from Brunei, which has grown steadily after the reopening of borders with the first Royal Brunei Airlines flight into Kota Kinabalu International Airport on May 6, this year.
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Following border reopening, Bruneians also travelled by road to visit Sabah beginning Aug. 1 this year. A total of 78,605 Bruneians visited Sabah in 2019 but the numbers plunged to 5,494 in 2020 following border shutdowns.
Hajiji also extended an invitation to the Sultan for a reciprocal visit to Sabah.
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Making his first visit to Brunei Darussalam since his appointment as Chief Minister, Hajiji was accompanied by State Assembly Speaker Datuk Haji Kadzim Yahya, Special Tasks Minister Datuk Dr Mohd Arifin Mohd Arif and State Secretary Datuk Seri Sr Haji Safar Untong.
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