Brunei Darussalam
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Report by the WTO Secretariat
Brunei Darussalam is a small relatively open economy in which trade and foreign direct investment play vital roles. With one of Asia’s highest per capita incomesof US$30000 Brunei owes its prosperity mainly to its abundant petroleum (oil and natural gas) resources whose share of GDP grew from 53% in 2002 to 69% in 2006 and whose share of exports rose from 88% to 96% during the same period largely due to the sharp rise in oil and gas prices. Nonetheless between 2002 and 2006 the economy grew at a rather modest annual average real rate of 2.5% which is insufficient to generate enough jobs for Brunei’s growing labour force. As a result official estimates put unemployment at some 4% in 2006 a cause for concern among Bruneians. Overall inflation has remained subdued at around 1% generally moving in line with price trends in Singapore because of the currency peg to the Singapore dollar. Inflation is somewhat repressed however by the price controls and subsidies with respect to essential food items and petrol.
Report by Brunei Darussalam
Since the last trade policy review in 2001 Brunei Darussalam maintains its strong support for an open rules-based and non-discriminatory multilateral trading system as prescribed by the WTO and continues to support the process of the Doha Development Agenda.
Introduction
The Trade Policy Review Mechanism (TPRM) was first established on a trial basis by the GATT contracting parties in April 1989. The Mechanism became a permanent feature of the World Trade Organization under the Marrakesh Agreement which established the WTO in January 1995.