Bandar Seri Begawan, October 9 (AseanAll) — On October 9, Secretary General Shi Zhongjun of the ASEAN-China Centre (ACC) met with Dr. Haji Abdul Manaf Bin Haji Metussin, Minister of Primary Resources and Tourism, Dr. Hajah May Fadzilah Haji Ariffin, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance and Economy and Dr. Siti Norkhalbi Haji Wahsalfelah, Deputy Permanent Secretary Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports of Brunei Darussalam in Bandar Seri Begawan.
Shi Zhongjun expressed appreciation to the Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism (MPRT), the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports for their strong support to ACC’s initiatives in both Brunei and China. He introduced the ACC’s missions and platforms established by the ACC in various fields between ASEAN countries and China. He welcomed the commitment of aforesaid ministries to further strengthen cooperation on tourism, youth exchanges, digital economy, AI, vocational education, sports and other areas and reaffirmed ACC’s readiness to further promote exchanges between China and Brunei.
Dr. Abdul Manaf welcomed ACC’s continued engagement with Brunei and commended its efforts in advancing regional cooperation. He emphasized the importance of enhancing human resource development to attract more Chinese tourists to Brunei and expressed strong willingness to cooperate with China on technology of fishery and agriculture. He noted to explore more collaborative projects with the ACC to strengthen Brunei-China economic ties and expand opportunities for bilateral people-to-people exchanges.
Dr. Fadzilah Ariffin highly recognized the ACC’s efforts in promoting ASEAN-China cooperation and Brunei-China friendship. She hoped the ACC will play a greater role, organizing more activities to enhance ASEAN-China digital economy and AI cooperation, and promote the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area 3.0 (CAFTA 3.0) and Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), especially carry out more education and youth exchanges in this regard, which will help young people enhance mutual understanding and recognize that trade promotes win-win outcomes.
Dr. Siti Norkhalbi Haji Wahsalfelah highly recognized the vital role of the ACC in facilitating cooperation between ASEAN and China across cultural, youth, sports sectors. Brunei has a long-standing historical exchanges and active people-to-people interactions with China. The Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports is ready to cooperate with the ACC to promote culture exchanges, youth activities and sports events with China, to strengthen mutual understanding and people-to-people exchanges.
On October 10, Shi Zhongjun also met with Xiao Jianguo, Chinese Ambassador to Brunei, and had an in-depth exchange of views on promoting cooperation between China and Brunei in economy, tourism, education, youth, and sports.
