His Excellency Dr. Hul Seingheng, Director General, Ministry of Industry, Science, Technology & Innovation (MISTI) of Cambodia,

Excellencies COSTI Chairs,

Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for ASEAN Economic Community, His Excellency Satvinder Singh, 

​Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Assalamualaikum warahamatullahi wabarakatuh and a very

Good Morning, 

On behalf of the Government of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang

Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, it gives me immense pleasure

to extend a warm welcome to you all to the 83rd Meeting of the

ASEAN Committee on Science, Technology and Innovation

(COSTI-83). 

2. It’s a great honour for Brunei Darussalam to assume the

COSTI Chairmanship and we are pleased to have this

opportunity to gather everyone here, physically. So, thank you

very much Excellencies and also your delegation for your

presence. To our Deputy Secretary-General for the ASEAN

Economic Community, it’s a great pleasure to have you with us.

I want to thank your wonderful team for their swift support and

assistance.

Excellencies, Distinguished delegates, Ladies and

Gentlemen,

3. We all understand the importance of Science, Technology

and Innovation (in short STI) in our day-to-day lives and the ways

in which they are transforming the world. The COVID-19

pandemic is one of the testimonies that has demonstrated the

value of STI as indispensable for our response to, and recovery

from, this crisis. Beyond that, we have witnessed individuals,

governments and private institutions respond to the crisis in

innovative and adaptive ways. Despite the challenging and

changing circumstances resulting from this pandemic, our belief

remains the same – Science, Technology, and Innovation are still

the foundations of human advancement.

4. This is why we are here to discuss and coordinate, to review

activities, programmes and projects and also to follow up on

directions set out by our Ministers. To further complement our

work today, the earlier engagement we had at the Retreat held

yesterday was indeed a welcoming step. We managed to reach

a meaningful and effective outcome to further shape the future

of our work. So, thank you very much, once again, colleagues

for your active participation and also valuable contributions.

Overall, our ultimate aim is clear – that is to advance the work of

ASEAN STI so that it remains a driving force in the regional

economic integration and cooperation towards the ASEAN

Economic Community (AEC).

5. With that, I fervently invite colleagues to engage and

contribute in a constructive manner when we consider especially

those crucial items in our agenda. We will hear recommendations from the BAC Chair resulting from their 14th Meeting held few days ago and we also have the 2024 annual priorities for our deliberation. To move forward, the consultancy report of APASTI 2026-2035 (Phase I) is a good starting point for ideas and initiatives that can lead us to further developing wellaligned and forward-looking STI priorities. 

Excellencies, Distinguished delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen,

6. Lastly, our engagement with the Dialogue Partners/Partners remains essential. They continue to play their contributory role in assisting us through the relevant cooperation initiatives. On this, I look forward to hearing views from colleagues when we consider Agenda Item 10. At the same time, new issues and challenges have emerged and that would further require us to collaborate effectively together not only with the dialogue partners but also to engage the relevant private sectors in our work. We had discussed this at the Retreat and reached a common understanding especially on private sector engagement in BAC which will be done in phases. This is also in support of one of the strategic thrusts under APASTI 2016-2025 to strengthen public-private strategic collaboration. 

7. I hope our 3-day productivity resulting from the Retreat and

also this COSTI-83 Meeting will be a tremendous benefit

for tomorrow. I am confident we all will find new ideas, fresh

energy and embark on effective partnerships to sustain our

efforts in support of the ASEAN work through science,

technology and innovation.

Thank you.

❖ End of Opening Remarks ❖