BEDB among top four investment promotion agencies in East Asia and the Pacific – World Bank Survey

Bandar Seri Begawan, Tuesday 9 June 2009.

The BEDB (Brunei Economic Development Board) has been ranked as one of the top performers for investment promotion agencies in East Asia and the Pacific, according to the World Bank’s Global Investment Promotion Benchmarking 2009 Summary Report.

The report has positioned the BEDB among the top four investment promotion agencies in the ‘Good Performance’ category for the region alongside the EDB of Singapore and MIDA of Malaysia.

A total of 213 investment promotion agencies worldwide were assessed in this benchmarking exercise and each was assessed in two ways.

First, agency websites were evaluated across four themes to assess the extent to which they offer country and sector information, and are a business-support gateway for prospective foreign company investors. The themes include information architecture (10%), design (10%), content (50%) and promotional effectiveness (30%).

Second, agency capacity to interact with and manage investment inquiries. This includes assessing the agencies’ ability to respond to information requests in a professional and appropriate manner as well as the extent to which the agency understands its market, has done research on its own location and ensures that its staff have the requisite project management skills, knowledge, training and marketing capability. The characteristics covered for assessing inquiry-handling include availability and contactability (10%), responsiveness and handling (15%), response (55%) and customer care (20%).

In inquiry-handling assessment for software and manufacturing sectors, Brunei, through the BEDB, was assessed to have performed well, ranked #1 in the region and #14 worldwide, consistently providing good information in response to inquiries from potential investors.

In its response to the report, the BEDB hopes that the result would not only raise Brunei’s profile in the world map as an attractive option for investment location but would encourage foreign companies to invest in Brunei. “Clearly, this achievement demonstrates BEDB’s commitment towards creating a conducive local business environment and I hope that the BEDB will continue to play a lead role in promoting Brunei as a preferred foreign investment destination.” said its Acting Chairman, Dato Paduka Timothy Ong.

The Global Investment Promotion Benchmarking analyses and assesses the global results, regional trends as well as best-practice examples of investment promotion agencies worldwide which makes a comparative measure of the organizational effectiveness of each agency, its management efficiency, and its understanding of the foreign direct investment marketplace, along with its knowledge of its local economy and its key selling points and weaknesses.

Press Contact: Lela Suhailee (lela@bedb.com.bn)