Brunei Darussalams Economic Transition in a Shifting Global Asia

This is an Open Access book. The international political economy is confronted by a number of overlapping crises. These include the climate emergency, rapid technological advancement, the high volume of globalised trade and financial flows, cross-border labour movement, rising inequality, geopolitical tensions, and frequent economic crises and natural disasters. Many developing countries are going through a period of urgent transformation and transition to adopt new policies to cope with such challenges and achieve and maintain sustainable and inclusive socioeconomic development. This path-breaking volume explores the issues shaping the response of Brunei Darussalam, long dependent on its oil and gas sector, to these challenges. The discussions presented here are framed by the notion of development in transitiona mix of well-designed policies driven by timely implementation, enforcement and monitoring, as well as international cooperation to ensure sustainable development and distribution of benefits on an equitable basis. Through fine-grained analyses of key economic sectorsincluding natural resources, employment patterns, financial services, global value chains, international trade, tourism and the role of the public sectorthe contributors offer a critical assessment of Bruneis policy responses. This transitional policy mix is situated in relation to the overarching development strategy called Wawasan Brunei 2035 (Brunei Vision 2035), which broadly maps onto the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals. Academic scholars, university students and others interested in the study of contemporary Brunei and broader questions of economic transition in Asia will find this volume an invaluable resource for a deeper understanding of how development paths and priorities are being managed to meet pressing global and local challenges.