Wed, November 04, 2009
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- The 11th Bilateral Consultative Meeting between Brunei and Oman was held with views on international affairs, both regional and further abroad, exchanged.
The Brunei Times, a Brunei daily, reported here on Wednesday that ways to further strengthen bilateral relations were also touched upon at the meeting.
Brunei and Oman established diplomatic relations in March 1984 and have since expanded cooperation into key areas such as energy, economics and investment, education, defense, health as well as culture.
According to the daily, Brunei was represented by its Second Foreign Affairs Minister Lim Jock Seng while the Omani delegation was led by Oman's Foreign Affairs Ministry's Secretary General Sayyid Badr Hamad Hamood Al Busaidi.
Sayyid Badr also attended a briefing by the Brunei Economic Development Board (BEDB) to grasp an idea of economic development activities taking place in Brunei.
BEDB's Acting Chairman Timothy Ong highlighted the opportunities that both countries could potentially and jointly develop, particularly in energy and energy-related projects like refinery, petrochemicals and aluminum smelting.
Oman's Ministry of National Economy is pursuing a policy that will reduce the oil sector's contribution to Gross Domestic Product to 9 percent by 2020.
