The ground breaking ceremony which took place two days ago. Image courtesy of James Jon of Borneo Bulletin.

Cho Won-myung, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Brunei Darussalam (right) handing over a token to guest of honour Hj Adnan bin Haji Mohd Jaafar, Deputy Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Image courtesy of James Jon of Borneo Bulletin.

Korean Embassy will be having their new chancery. Chancery means office or department of a chancellor. Apparently this is a 5 year project of the new chancery and also the ambassador’s residence. There was a signing agreement between South Korea and Brunei Darussalam for the lease land for the construction of premises on June 5, 2012.

Currently their embassy and residence is located at Jalan Muara. So when the project is completed by October 2016, the Korean Embassy will shift their embassy and residence at Jalan Kebangsaan.

The ground breaking ceremony for the construction of the new chancery was officiated by Hj Adnan bin Haji Mohd Jaafar, Deputy Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade who was the guest of honour. Accompany him was Cho Won-myung, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Brunei Darussalam.

Located in a separate plot of land, the chancery has a total land area of 4,250 square metres while the ambassador’s residence has a total area of 6,070 square metres.

The contractors and subcontractor involved in the project are Setia Makota, Soosung Engineering and Gemilang Latif Associates.

According to the Ambassador, this will be the first property owned by the Korean government (in Brunei) and this is a symbol of the bilateral relationship between two countries. He believes this will play an important role as a centre for cultural exchange, people-to-people interaction, business and political communication.

Now I just hope there’s a direct flight to Seoul in the near future 🙂

The new Korean Embassy Chancery (office) to be completed by October 2016. Image provided by the Korean Embassy in Brunei Darussalam.

The new Korean Embassy Chancery (residence) to be completed by October 2016. Image provided by the Korean Embassy in Brunei Darussalam.

Alice Chan of Concepts Technologies, Haniza Zakariya, the country manager of Microsoft Brunei and Mr. Vincent Pao, General Manage of Concepts Technologies during the announcement of the Microsoft Distributorship recently. Image courtesy of Concepts Computer.

For the first time in the existence of Microsoft (Brunei), they have given the local distributorship to Concepts Group of Companies which will be under the flagship of Concepts Technologies. For many years, there have been one distributor in Brunei Darussalam but this time round, Concepts Group of Companies have been chosen as another distributor because of their exceptional track record in Brunei Darussalam for the past 15 years.

A few days ago, Haniza Zakariya, the country manager of Microsoft Brunei and Mr. Vincent Pao, General Manage of Concepts Technologies had a press conference to announce the official distributorship of Microsoft. Haniza believes that the leading IT retail company can help tap in the Brunei economy and increase the productivity of Microsoft. She also believes that despite the economic setback (oil prices and budget cuts), technology is still relevant as everyone uses it.

This is a strategic move by Microsoft Brunei as Concepts Technologies will be able to create an ecosystem through means of hardware, software, training, licensing and many more. I believe this will also help to drive and educate the public on the copyright issues.

Since year 2000, Vincent Pao has a strong philosophy that he won’t sell pirated software or sell his Acer computers with a pirated pre-install Windows or Microsoft office despite the fact back in those days, the local consumers prefer pirated softwares over original ones. He has maintained that commitment to this very day and still continuing.

Furthermore, Concepts Commercial Suppliers was given a certificate of recognition for selling genuine Microsoft software. Only two companies in Brunei Darussalam achieved this recognition and Concepts Computer was one of them. This was awarded back in December 2014 and to achieve this award is no easy feat due to the high piracy in softwares in Brunei alone.

The beginning of lasting relationship between Microsoft and Concepts Technologies. Image courtesy of Concepts Computer.

The man behind Concepts Group of Companies and Microsoft will be distributed under the flagship of Concepts Technologies

Last December, Concepts Commercial Suppliers got recognized by Microsoft for continuing selling genuine products in Brunei

During the launch of Microsoft Office 365 earlier this year

Mr. Pao has a vision for Concept Technologies to become a trusted and reliable distributor and serve their strategic partners and resellers and this, in turn, will give more confidence to the consumer end. The product of Microsoft are as always reliable and has become part of our daily lives. The extra step now is to educate those who are still using not genuine softwares of Microsoft.

I believe with the track record of Concepts Group of Companies, Mr. Pao and his team will continue to educate the end users and also maintaining their standards in selling genuine products.

Now with the distributorship entrusted to Concepts Technologies, the IT resellers and agencies can get their Microsoft softwares from Concept Technologies. This is one of the biggest milestone for Mr. Pao and his team.

Microsoft Brunei has definitely chose the right decision in trusting Concepts Technologies’ capabilities and most importantly, the work ethics between partners. Congratulations to Mr. Vincent Pao, the founder of Concepts Group of Companies and the distributorship of Microsoft products award was well deserved.