Bandar Seri Begawan
A survey has found that 23 percent of European Union (EU) businesses said they will expand operations in Brunei, while 19 percent expect contraction and 58 percent indicate uncertainty, an EU-ASEAN business sentiment survey showed.
According to local daily the Borneo Bulletin, 53 percent of ASEAN-wide respondents see ASEAN as the region with the best economic opportunity, which is a drop from 63 percent in the 2019 survey. Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam show the greatest level of EU intention to expand operations.
The survey also showed increased EU businesses’ interest in other regions or countries, such as India, North Asia and Africa.
The report said that contributing to the decline in EU’s interest in ASEAN are factors such as the slow progress of ASEAN economic integration, delay in the proposed EU-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement and increasing non-tariff barriers–Xinhua
