HRH Prince Abdul Qawi, executive deputy chairman of QAF Brunei, says he is strengthening his core operations

HRH PRINCE Abdul Qawi, executive deputy chairman of QAF Brunei, one of the leading private conglomerates, is one of those members of the local business community who firmly believes that expanding abroad is the only option.
“I want to go global because the Bruneian market is small and the only way to make it bigger is to go international or to convince people to come here,” he says.
QAF Brunei, a member of the QAF Group, was founded in 1982 and has interests in more than 15 subsidiaries, including car sales, printing and publishing, transport, retailing and a chicken farm.

Prince Abdul Qawi, who took over the day-to-day management in June last year, says: “I am strengthening my core operations. Ultimately, we will diversify into other areas where it will be beneficial for my company and for the economy as a whole. We are also training Bruneians, so that the country may benefit from our overall business activities.”
The Borneo Bulletin, an English language newspaper, which was first printed in 1953 as a weekly, is now a daily. QAF, which owns the Brunei Press, introduced weekend editions last year. “We have also been successful in publishing Malay language dailies, and I am seriously considering targeting the Chinese market too,” says Prince Abdul Qawi.
Although he describes 2000 as a “difficult year”, his company opened the Supa Save retail centre at Seri Lambak and launched Golden Chicks. The Supa Save Debit Card was launched earlier this year, the first of its kind in the sultanate. Cardholders, who have to have an account with the Baiduri Bank, can earn bonuses that can be converted into shopping vouchers.

QAF has also signed a deal with a Malaysian firm to take a share in a car sales business. “This means that from 2003 onwards we will be in a position to sell cars not just here but also in Malaysia and Singapore in an open market,” he says.
Prince Andrew made a recent visit to the sultanate and paid a courtesy call to Prince Abdul Qawi, visiting Brunei Press and the QAF car showrooms. Prince Abdul Qawi believes that Brunei’s long-standing and historical relationship with the UK, particularly in the field of education, is very important.
“Our legal system is based on the UK model and, as English is widely used and understood here, investors from the UK will feel comfortable in dealing with us,” he adds.

Dato Bin Yussof , executive director of Yusof Holdings, says international firms can do a lot to help the economy

HRH Prince Abdul Qawi also takes physical fitness very seriously. He recently completed an arduous training course at the Singapore Armed Forces’ School of Commandos to gain the coveted ‘parachute wings’ of a fully-fledged paratrooper.
The prince, who pursues extreme sports such as bungee jumping, is the first member of Brunei’s royal family
as well as the first non-military person to pass the course.
Dato Paduka Awang Ahmad Bin Yussof, executive director of Yusof Holdings, whose interests include a travel firm, distribution, property and services, is concerned about how people will adapt to the new global economics. “We have to move away from oil and gas,” he says.

Yusof Holdings was started by his late father who went into property in the 1960s. “We will rely on real estate for any financial activities of the company in the future,” he says. “But over the past four years, the real estate and construction business in Brunei has collapsed and many people have been affected.”
Dato Paduka Bin Yussof says foreign investors should consider the sultanate a staging post to the much larger
Asean market, with its 500 million inhabitants. “This is where international companies can do a lot to help our economy,” he adds.