Asia Pacific Journal of Public Administration, 2018

Vol. 40, No. 2, 142–146, https://doi.org/10.1080/23276665.2018.1475115

RESEARCH NOTE
Brunei Darussalam’s institutional development strategy:
components, achievements and challenges
Nurul Afiqah Nor Amin*

School of Business and Economics, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Jalan Tungku Link,
Gadong, BE1410, Brunei Darussalam
(Received 17 December 2017; accepted 28 February 2018)

By the late 1990s, the government of Brunei Darussalam had recognised the signifi-
cant limitations of development plans as means of strategic planning. Accordingly, it
established a strategic planning system, with one of its features being an institutional
development strategy. This strategy is addressed here in terms of its main compo-
nents and achievements thereof, leading to an appreciation of ongoing challenges in
need of systematic and concerted responses.
Keywords: public sector; national development plans; strategic planning; institu-
tional development strategy; Brunei Darussalam

Introduction
Strategic planning in the public sector is a systematic instrument for producing impor-
tant decisions and action to shape the nature and direction of organisational systems
and activities in government (Olsen & Eadie, 1982). It is an increasingly common prac-
tice at all levels of government to establish broad purposes and to use step-by-step pro-
cesses to reach desired goals (Bryson & Edwards, 2017). Yet, while written strategic
plans are usually quite sound, the results are often not in accordance with their pur-
poses (Mbaka & Mugambi, 2014). The mismatch involved has stemmed from past
experiences whereby public sector planning efforts have often not been implemented
and, thus, have simply remained in written form on shelves or in files (Kanyua Bundi
& Omwenga, 2016). This has frequently been due to red tape, caution and rigidity that
has led to reasonably dysfunctional public sectors (Danaee, Moshabbaki, Abbasi, &
Hassanpoor, 2011).
While the challenges involved in strategic planning are prevalent in public sectors
throughout the world (Fourie & Poggenpoel, 2017), they are frequently more pro-
nounced in countries with abundant resources from oil and gas. Such countries face
significant challenges due to their weak governance arrangements, with limited credibil-
ity, quality, transparency and accountability in their policy-making processes and in
their legal and regulatory climates (Humphreys, Sachs, & Stiglitz, 2007). Hence the rel-
evance of this note on institutional development as one of the features of strategic plan-
ning in Brunei Darussalam which, with a land area of only 5765 km2 and with only
428,874 people, had a GDP of US$8.285 billion from oil and gas sales in 2016
(Department of Statistics, 2016).

*Email: nurulafiqah1304@gmail.com

© 2018 The University of Hong Kong

 Asia Pacific Journal of Public Administration 143

Components and achievements of the institutional development strategy

Traditionally, the five-yearly national development plans had functioned as strategic
plans for the Brunei Darussalam government (Haji Mohd Yunos & Milojević, 2016).
By the late-1990s, the inadequacy of such plans began to be recognised. During the
seventh national development plan (1996–2000), only 53% of the proposed pro-
grammes and projects were actually approved for implementation, let alone being
implemented (Europa Publications, 2003). This has been attributed to the public sector
having a weak enabling environment comprising institutional constraints resulting from
regulatory barriers and a lack of responsiveness and transparency in government pol-
icy-making (Bhaskaran, 2010). There was also a culture of risk aversion, lack of
accountability, over-regulation, excessive red tape, and inflexible rules that limited the
implementation of programmes and projects then and subsequently (Haji Hashim,
2010). This indicated that financial resources alone could not be regarded as a solution
to the implementation of development plans, with the intervention of effective public
management being a crucial ingredient of means for solving the problems involved.
In response, at the beginning of this century, a strategic planning system was put in
place to attain the country’s Vision 2035, which is a long-term development plan (Haji
Mohd Yunos & Milojević, 2016). Among the strategies formulated to realise the vision,
an institutional development strategy was developed to foster good governance prac-
tices of government organisations in their decision-making and implementation pro-
cesses through the adoption of modern administrative, legal and regulatory systems and
frameworks. The aim of the strategy is to ensure more effective and efficient govern-
ment practices, with public organisations needing to take account of the interests of an
array of constituencies in the sectoral communities in which they operate. They are
expected to adhere to the strategy as a core component of their standard operating pro-
cedures (Prime Minister’s Office, 2004), while working together as a homogeneous
group in their accepting, sharing and undertaking activities in pursuit of the vision and
goals in accordance with international analyses (e.g., Favoreu, Carassus, & Maurel,
2016).
Three directly interrelated components and achievements of the institutional devel-
opment strategy are particularly worth highlighting. They include the need to enhance
the responsiveness and accountability of government organisations, coupled with the
importance of developing an efficient public service and having less rigid regulatory
requirements concerning the conduct of business activities in the community.
The need for increased organisational responsiveness and accountability in the dis-
charge of entrusted responsibilities ultimately led to an entity known as Penggerak being
established under the Delivery Unit of the Prime Minister’s Office in 2014 (Department
of Economic Planning & Development, 2012; Bryson & Edwards). The Penggerak acts
to identify and monitor programmes and projects that need to be implemented by the
government through relevant government organisations (Prime Minister’s Office’s,
2018), as well as serving as a task force to deal with significant emerging issues and
concerns (cf., Bryson & Edwards, 2017). One of its successful initiatives was to make
the Monetary Authority more appreciative and skilled concerning ways in which small
and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) might use their assets for the purposes of securing
bank loans. This has facilitated a more effective financing of SMEs, with important
implications for the country’s longer-term economic development (Shen, 2016).
With the objective of building an efficient civil service equipped to cope with fast-
changing technological developments, various online services have been established,
144 N. A. Nor Amin

including a government employees’ management system, a business registration system,

and a business licensing system. These systems are based on an understanding that
electronic information management and communication can reduce the costs of collect-
ing, storing and using information in government (Johnston & Bowen, 2005). They
have facilitated the streamlining of data acquisition and application in the making and
implementation of organisational decisions. This has increased the speed of transactions
both within organisations and between them and the community. It has aided the taking
of human resource decisions, and resulted in less administrative inconvenience and cost
for citizens and businesses in their interactions with government.
The transformation of regulatory frameworks following international best practices
has sought to facilitate competitiveness in the local business sector and also to promote
foreign direct investment. For example, several official orders have been amended, such
as the Investment Incentives Order of 2001, the Employment Order of 2009, the Mone-
tary Authority Order of 2010, the Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Order of 2011,
and the Patents Order also of 2011 (Oxford Business Group, 2016). The amendments
have aimed to make it easier to do business in the country, with a possible consequence
being that the country’s international ranking in this regard improved to 56 in 2017
from 72 in 2016 (World Bank Group, 2018). The requirements and processes involved
make it more straightforward for citizens, business owners and investors to deal with
government organisations in their acquisition of construction permits, registration of
property, and trading across borders.
In essence, there have been some important achievements in terms of public organi-
sations having improved their responsiveness, capability and efficiency in accordance
with the institutional development strategy. At the same time, significant challenges
remain concerning the structural and operational arrangements needed to streamline
organisational practices and government regulations to enable prompt decision-making
and to minimise red tape in the public sector.

Ongoing challenges of the institutional development strategy

The widespread implementation of the institutional development strategy remains a cru-
cial task for public organisations in the country. There are various areas that still
require concerted attention in transforming government procedures and regulations to
enable prompt and flexible decision-making. This has been highlighted by the World
Economic Forum (2017) in its Global Competitiveness Index 2016–2017, which con-
firms that various features of government processes and practices are in considerable
need of improvement.
The limited rate of change in the implementation of the strategy is largely a result
of there being no rigorous, overarching process for fostering systematic and coordinated
action. There is a need for a suitable leadership style in overseeing the implementation
process, including the nurturing of staff capacities, cultures and effective patterns of
communication and interaction within and among organisations (Nkosi, 2015; Roha-
jawati, Sensuse, Sucahyo, & Arymurthy, 2016; Sial, Usman, Zufiqar, Satti, & Khur-
sheed, 2011). These focuses of the design and behaviour of public management have to
be addressed sensitively but firmly in the context of the country’s political and adminis-
trative system.
The strategy itself ideally has to become more firmly embedded and adhered to in
all processes of organisational decision-making and action as a comprehensive frame-
work and guide to how service in the public interest ought to be conceived and
 Asia Pacific Journal of Public Administration 145

managed (Bryson, Berry, & Kaifeng Yang, 2010; Kazmi, 2008). It is important that its
underlying philosophy and assumptions are clearly understood as core elements of the
whole system of strategic planning (Duraman, 2011). This will provide necessary sup-
port in the form of the rationale and objectives of organisational change and reform.
Organisations continue to have quite rigid structures, divisions of labour and admin-
istrative rules and requirements that are not suited to social and economic realities.
Changing them is no easy task, but their structures and related systems do need to be
altered to make them more effective. Assessments and the reforms flowing therefrom
should focus on their unnecessary levels of centralisation, formalism and complexity
(Ahmady, Mehrpour, & Nikooravesh, 2016; Al-Qatawneh, 2009; Kalkan, Bozkurt, &
Arman, 2014). A restructuring of them in terms of these aspects is an essential require-
ment of the strategy’s effective implementation.

Concluding comments
The success of strategic planning in government depends considerably on an ability to
determine and implement appropriate means of transforming organisations to make
them better aligned with and capable of meeting the needs of the communities they are
there to serve (Khoo & Munro-Smith, 1999). The institutional development strategy
adopted by the Brunei Darussalam government appreciates this and, accordingly, seeks
quite meaningfully to bring about a paradigm shift in the governance and administra-
tion of the country. Its components are sound and there have been some notable
achievements. But significant challenges remain, with much still to be done, in respect
of which there is considerable scope for comprehensive action that is informed by
detailed research and analysis.

Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

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