Articles
BRUNEI has become the number one
target for the French Oil and Gas Industry Council to explore investment
opportunities in the ASEAN region because of the country’s economic and
political stability, its general manager said.
Benjamin Dupal (pic), general manager of the GEP-APAC,
the council’s regional office, said that Brunei and Myanmar has become
the prime target for them to bring French small-to-medium enterprises
(SMEs) in the oil and gas industry to.
"However, Myanmmar is currently undergoing
transformation, and it is much more difficult and bureaucratic to do
business in say Indonesia or China, so we want to develop strategic ties
with the (Bruneian) authorities," said Dupal.
In an interview with The Brunei Times on the sidelines
of a business-to-business (B2B) meeting amongst French and Bruneian
companies in the oil and gas sector, Dupal said that GEP-AFTP wants to
ensure that French companies can invest "somewhere safe". The latest
developments in deep offshore explorations in Brunei, such as the oil
blocks in the commercial areas has drawn French interest, he said.
"The development of the deep sea blocks is closely
watched from the French perspective, especially with Total (the
operators) being one of the leaders in the deep sea project, the
industry has followed that, especially because the French are
well-recognised for their work in the deep sea," said Dupal, adding that
the French are one of the best for developing deep sea fields.
During the visit, GEP-APAC, with the French Trade
Commission UBIFRANCE as well as nine other French companies met with
PetroleumBRUNEI, the Brunei Economic Development Board (BEDB), Brunei
Shell Petroleum and Total.
Dupal said that the last time the GEP and UBIFRANCE was
in Brunei was 18 months ago, where the two out of 10 companies had
successfully formed partnerships with Bruneian companies.
"That’s why GEP is in the region. When SMEs from France
come to the Southeast Asia, they return and the distance affects the
continuity of the business (talks). Whereas if GEP is here, we can do
follow-ups on the activity from Singapore and from there, we would also
like to create bridges with PetroleumBRUNEI or BLNG, and the Energy
Ministry," the GM said.
"Dialogues held with the Bruneian authorities will
enable GEP to see what the requirements of the country are and identify
within our members to see who will be able to setup business in not only
the local but also regional market," he added.
Dupal expressed hope that he will be in discussion with the BEDB on a regular basis to explore more opportunities.
"I don’t believe in starting big, I believe in
identifying first in a rationale way, which one of our members have
interest in setting up in Brunei, and we have to work with Bruneian
authorities to see which area Brunei needs services, or is interested in
developing."
Michel Cywinski, UBIFRANCE’s trade commissioner and
country director of Singapore and Brunei said that the two companies
from 18 months ago are currently participating in a tender.
"Now, after 18 months, we’ve decided it was a good time
to bring new companies, and all of these companies, except one, do not
know Brunei. They have no business here, so it’s very important for them
to meet potential companies. Especially focus on the local content
issue, which is a key driver for oil and gas sector."
Cywinski said that the current delegation of nine
companies were carefully selected, as all of them are possibly
considering investing, or having some form of technology transfer to
Brunei. "It’s very important for us to have a better selection of
companies, and we hope this outing will be better than last time because
the initial selection was stronger from the start," he said.The Brunei
Times
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