• Today: October 20, 2026

Brunei highlights digital connectivity, cross-border payment integration

Minister of Finance II Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Haji Mohd Amin Liew bin Abdullah highlighted key areas for regional transformation, including advancing regional digital connectivity and cross-border payment integration, supported by International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Group (WBG) guidance on managing the macroeconomic and fiscal impacts of artificial intelligence (AI) and technological disruption, during the 2026 IMF-WBG Annual Meetings in Bangkok, Thailand from October 12 to 18, 2026.

He also called for stronger collaboration with the IMF through technical exchanges and knowledge-sharing, as well as leveraging the WBG’s expertise to enhance regional capabilities in the digital economy, strengthen supply chain resilience and attract investment.

At the 2026 IMF-WBG Annual Meetings, Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Haji Mohd Amin Liew joined ASEAN finance ministers and representatives in high-level dialogues with the IMF and WBG.

The sessions focused on strengthening institutional partnerships in line with ASEAN integration, leveraging the WBG’s private capital mobilisation efforts and advancing the IMF’s policy priorities to enhance resilience.

On the sidelines of the meetings, Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Haji Mohd Amin Liew held bilateral discussions with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of Thailand Ekniti Nitithanprapas on strengthening financial and investment cooperation between Brunei Darussalam and Thailand.

Areas discussed included the potential renewal of the memorandum of understanding signed between the Brunei Investment Agency and Thailand’s Government Pension Fund in 2024; securing agri-food resilience and protecting domestic food security; and exploring partnership between the Islamic Bank of Thailand and Bruneian institutions in workforce training, product innovation and cross-border capital alignment.

Separate bilateral meetings were also held with Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office, Second Minister for Finance and Second Minister for National Development of Singapore Indranee Rajah; Minister of Finance II of Malaysia Senator Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan; and Minister of Finance of Indonesia Suahasil Nazara.

Discussions focused on strengthening mutual financial cooperation, cross-border economic resilience and shared policy responses to regional macro-fiscal challenges.

Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Haji Mohd Amin Liew also held discussions with WBG East Asia and Pacific Vice President Felipe Jaramillo and the International Finance Corporation on exploring deeper partnerships in private sector development as well as fiscal and economic resilience.

Separately, he participated in a high-level roundtable titled ‘AI and State Capacity: Governing and Delivering in the Global South’, which examined how AI could strengthen core state functions, including revenue administration, public financial management, procurement, regulation, service delivery and crisis response.

Managing Director of the Brunei Darussalam Central Bank Hajah Rashidah binti Haji Sabtu was also in attendance. – James Kon

Minister of Finance II Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Haji Mohd Amin Liew bin Abdullah in a group photo. PHOTO: MOF

 

SOURCE/AUTHOR : BORNEO BULLETIN/JAMES KON

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