Yang Berhormat Dato Seri Setia Dr. Awang Haji Mat Suny bin Haji Md Hussein, Minister of Energy virtually attended the United Kingdom-ASEAN Business Council (UKABC) Roundtable Dialogue which was co-hosted by the UKABC and the ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN BAC). Also present at the roundtable dialogue was Yang Mulia Awang Haji Azhar bin Haji Yahya, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Energy, and Yang Mulia Pengiran Haji Jamra Weira bin Pengiran Haji Petra, Deputy Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Energy.

The Roundtable Dialogue was opened by a welcoming remarks delivered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe DBE, CMG, the Chair of UKABC, and Yang Berhormat Fdr. Ar. Dayang Siti Rozaimeriyanty binti DSLJ Haji Abd Rahman, the Chair of ASEAN BAC.

Yang Berhormat Dato Seri Setia Dr. Awang Haji Mat Suny in his opening remarks highlighted the importance of further deepening the linkages and dialogue between government and the business community especially through stronger public-private partnerships that will bring benefit and opportunity to the region. He also welcomed UKABC’s support in the efforts of the ASEAN Ministers on Energy Meeting (AMEM) in promoting its low-carbon energy transition agenda through active engagement and continuously providing awareness to the United Kingdom (UK) business community on the latest opportunities in ASEAN, as well as facilitating trade and investment content delivery. Furthermore, the UK business communities are urged to use their experiences and industry knowledge in ways that will support the public at large such as initiatives to improve living standards and create opportunities for the ASEAN people to contribute towards the region’s economic development.

In advancing energy transition in the ASEAN region, Brunei Darussalam during its AMEM Chairmanship this year will be focusing on continuous promotion of LNG as one of the cleaner energy sources, new emerging sources of energy such as hydrogen, further development of green energy and technologies including renewables and Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage, as well as strengthening the regional unity and identity within the ASEAN energy community. This was stated by Yang Mulia Pengiran Haji Jamra Weira bin Pengiran Haji Petra, Deputy Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Energy during his presentation at the roundtable dialogue.

Discussions evolved around the deliverables and priorities of Brunei Darussalam as the Chair of AMEM 2021 and how the UK can support Brunei Darussalam’s Chairmanship. Participating in the discussions were senior government and business leaders from the UK and Southeast Asia.

Also present were Agnete Johnsgaard-Lewis, Managing Director of Brunei Shell Petroleum (BSP) and Yang Mulia Hajah Farida binti Dato Seri Paduka Haji Talib, Managing Director of Brunei LNG.