Lim Yu Kwang, Honorary Secretary & Treasurer of The Brunei Association of Banks (BAB) and Country Head & General Manager of Malayan Banking, Abdul Razak bin Abdul Malek, Vice Chairman of BAB and Senior Vice President & General Manager of United Overseas Bank, Yang Mulia Yusuf Hj Abd Rahman, Managing Director of Autoriti Monetari Brunei Darussalam (AMBD) as the guest of honour and Pierre Imhof, incoming Chairman of BAB and Chief Executive Officer of Baiduri Bank during a token of appreciation to the guest of honour at Mutiara Ballroom, Radisson Hotel last night

Guest of honour in his welcoming remarks

I didn’t know that The Brunei Association of Banks (BAB) has been around for decades. It only has become more known to public in the past few years. The committee compromises of the chairperson, vice-chairperson and treasurer cum secretary. Last night was the first of an appreciation dinner to acknowledge and appreciate all the initiatives and contribution made by the BAB members in developing Brunei’s banking industry and also to help to attain the goals leading to Vision 2035.

The guest of honour was Yang Mulia Yusuf Hj Abd Rahman, Managing Director of Autoriti Monetari Brunei Darussalam (AMBD). For your info, AMBD is regard as Brunei’s financial driving force. It helps to regulate and supervise financial institutions such as BIBD, HSBC, Baiduri Bank, TAIB and so on. That’s just one of its roles but I won’t go into details on it but if you are keen to know more, you can read here for their objectives. Hence it’s important the relationship between AMBD and BAB remain strong.

Also in attendance were senior officials from AMBD and members of BAB.

Yang Mulia Awang Yusuf shared on his welcome remarks on the priorities of AMBD in the last five years and he commended on the strong commitment and support from the banking industry in moving towards Vision 2035 aspirations. He further added, the financial sector, is very important in spearing the domestic economy of Brunei to the target of 8% of financial sector contribution to GDP. He urged the banking sector to be more proactive in creating new opportunities to lead to diversification and less reliance on the oil and gas sector.

The appreciation dinner also acknowledged both outgoing and incoming Chairman of BAB. Rino Donosepoetro, outgoing Chairman of BAB and CEO of Standard Chartered Bank, gave his welcoming remarks and he was full of gratitude to the AMBD and members of BAB for the level of collaboration and cooperation to promote the national banking industry. He acknowledged how the business environment has changed due to the changes in oil prices, leading to the opportunities of diversification and acceleration of SME development and FDI and this is how the banking industry can help existing and new players in the SME sector and also with the involvement of ASEAN Banking Association.

Pierre Imhof, incoming Chairman of BAB and CEO of Baiduri Bank, appreciated the guest of honour and AMBD senior officials for their presence last night at Radisson Hotel. He hopes on the good level of cooperation between BAB and AMBD and expressed the strong commitment by BAB to continue to work closely with AMBD in the coming years.

Thank you, BAB, for invitation to cover the appreciation dinner. I’m honoured and it’s a great gesture to have members of BAB and AMBD attending the dinner last night to foster better relations and understanding among one another. Let’s hope for a better path in achieving our Vision 2035.

The invited guests consisting of members of BAB and senior officials of AMBD

Rino Donosepoetro, outgoing Chairman of BAB and CEO of Standard Chartered Bank

Pierre Imhof, incoming Chairman of BAB and CEO of Baiduri Bank

Todd Wilcox, Chief Executive Officer of The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking

Representatives from AMBD and members of BAB

 

Group photo at Brunei International Airport before the Brunei delegates of Shell Eco-Marathon Asia 2016 headed off to Manila last Tuesday. Image courtesy of Azhar Ismat, University Liaison Officer, UBD.

Two teams of 13 students flew to the Philippines yesterday to compete in the Shell Eco-Marathon Asia (SEMA) 2016.

From March 3 to March 6, Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) and Institut Teknologi Brunei (ITB) will be competing against more than 100 teams at Luneta Park, Manila in a competition that challenges student teams around the world to design, build and test ultra energy-efficient vehicles.

UBD which has competed since 2011 will be represented by UBD GENNEXT Pejuang in two categories, the Urban Concept Category and Prototype Hydrogen Fuel Cell category.

Meanwhile ITB competing for the first time will be represented by Team ONE-U in the Prototype Battery Electric Vehicle Category.

Last year, UBD placed third in the Prototype Hydrogen Fuel Cell category achieving a distance of 186.8 kilometres on one cubic metre of hydrogen.
“We’re thinking of doubling the range,” said Md Khairul Zhafri Hj Md Noor, a student from the Faculty of Science and Team Manager for UBD GENNEXT Pejuang.

Md Khairul Zhafri Hj Md Noor, said that he was confident as his team has done a lot of research and improvement to their prototype in preparation for the competition but remains wary as there are now more teams competing in the same category.

One of the teams representing Brunei in the Shell Eco-Marathon Asia (SEMA) 2016. Image courtesy of Julius Hong of The Brunei Times.

NurBasitah Raduan, a student from Faculty of Engineering and team manager for Team ONE-U said that they have been working on their vehicle for one year as it was their final year project last year.

She added that one of the challenges that they faced was the delay in receiving parts which gave them less time to build and test drive their vehicle.
“We don’t know what to expect yet as this is our first time joining the competition so it’s going to be a challenging event but the most important thing is that we deliver our best and making sure that we gain as much experience that we can,” said NurBasitah adding that the experience they bring may help create interests and inspire fellow students to participate in future competitions as well.

“We have gain a lot of skills such as communications, teamwork, integrated planning and have applied those skills to this project,” said NurBasitah.
“It has been hectic but it’s all worth info,” added NurBasitah.

Present during the send-off were UBD Vice Chancellor Datin Dr Dayang Hajah Anita Binurul Zahrina Pehin Orang Kaya Laila Wijaya Dato Seri Setia Hj Abdul Aziz, Dean of Faculty of Integrated Technologies, UBD Pg Dr Iskandar Pg Hj Petra, ITB Vice Chancellor Associate Professor Dr Hjh Zohrah Hj Sulaiman, ITB Assistant Vice Chancellor (Academic) Pg Dr Hj Mohd Esa Al-Islam Pg Hj Md Yunus.

Also in attendance were Pg Shamhary Pg Dato Paduka Hj Mustapha, managing director of Brunei Shell Marketing (BSM), Brunei Shell Petroleum (BSP) Deputy Managing Director Hj Kamaluddin Hj Bungsu, BSP’s Communication and External Affairs Manager Hj Amir Hamzah Hj Hanafi, representatives from BSM and BSP as well as other sponsors supporting both institutions. Text courtesy of Julius Hong of The Brunei Times.

As of today 3rd March,the students are preparing for technical inspections at the paddocks in Luneta Park, Manila. Follow their journey and updates through @ubdsem and @itb.sem on Instagram

UND GEnNEXT Pejuang’s driver at Shell Eco-Marathon Asia 2016, Nur Amirah Hj Salamat – studying Professional Communication & the Media.

ITB Pahlawan II Driver, Lester Ong Kai Xiang, studying HND in Mechanical Engineering, ITB.