Setting the stage for constructive economic alliance between Hainan Province and Brunei Darussalam, top Chinese official LuoBaoming successfully wrapped up his two-day visit to Brunei yesterday.
The Secretary of the Hainan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Hainan Provincial People’s Congress said he sees a major leap in ties between Hainan and the Sultanate.
“Despite visiting Brunei only for two days, the outcome of my mission to the Sultanate has been unexpectedly fruitful,” LuoBaoming told the Bulletin before departing for China.
The Chinese leader put forward three key proposals that he think could boost the economic prospects of Brunei and Hainan. They are the Hengyi Petrochemical Project, tourism and sister city status for Bandar Seri Begawan.
“The mega Hengyi project can be a good industrial partnership between Brunei and Hainan Province. The upstream products produced by Hengyi in Brunei can be raw materials for Hainan’s downstream petroleum industry,” LuoBaoming noted.
He also sees good prospects in the area of tourism through introduction of chartered flights, especially during the festive season of Chinese New Year and Had Raya.
“It’s a fact that an exceptionally huge number of Chinese tourists are from Hainan Province and last year the country had some 43 million tourists.
“During the festival season, both sides can launch charter flights between Bandar Seri Begawan and Hainan to promote two-way tourist exchanges,” he said adding that “Brunei and our side have attached great importance to this proposed cooperation”.
Talking about sister city status he said, “During the audience with His Majesty Sultan Haji HassanalBolkiahMu’izzaddinWaddaulahibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali SaifuddienSa’adulKhairiWaddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, we have proposed to create sister city relationship between Haikou (Hainan) and Bandar Seri Begawan. His Majesty has welcomed the idea, and through hard work, both sides would be able to realise this dream, making Hainan the second Chinese friendship city of Bandar Seri Begawan after the city of Nanjing.”
LuoBaoming visited some of the Hainanese people who have migrated from China to Brunei. “The Hainanese people are currently living a prosperous life in Brunei and many are already the third generation in the country,” he noted happily.
The Hainan Leader’s August 2-4 visit aimed to foster closer cooperation between Hainan and Brunei in petrochemicals, agriculture, pharmaceutical and other fields.
On hand to send off LuoBaoming and his delegation was H. E. Yang Jian, the Chinese Ambassador to Brunei Darussalam and HajahMardianabinti Haji Omar, Director of Politics 1 from Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Hainan is the southern most province of the People’s Republic of China, facing Brunei across the sea. It is also the largest Special Economic Zone – established by Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping in the late 1980s.