Brunei became a member of the Commonwealth and ASEAN at independence, in 1984, and has subsequently become a member of both the United Nations and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC). In 1993 it acceded to the GATT, and in 2000 Brunei hosted and chaired APEC.
Brunei attaches the highest importance to its ASEAN membership and has participated actively in that organisation. Brunei hosted the ASEAN Leaders Summit (and ASEAN+3) in November 2001, and hosted the ASEAN Post Ministerial Conference and ASEAN Regional Forum in July/August 2002. It has close economic links with Singapore - and the currencies of the two countries are pegged. Brunei took part in the inaugural East Asia Summit (EAS) in Kuala Lumpur in December 2005.
Brunei contributes to regional security. Bruneian troops help observe the ceasefire between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (an insurgent group fighting for Muslim autonomy) in the southern Philippine region of Mindanao, and Brunei is a member of a peace-monitoring mission in the Indonesian province of Aceh.
In December 2002 Brunei signed a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) with the US. In August 2005 Brunei signed the Trans Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership (TPSEP) with Chile, New Zealand and Singapore (who all signed it in July 2005).
Brunei is positive about the development of closer trade relations between ASEAN and China, Japan and South Korea (ASEAN+3) and sees the institutionalisation of the process as a natural evolution. Brunei and Japan also held talks on a bilateral free-trade agreement (FTA) in Bandar Seri Begawan, in April 2006. Brunei is a member of the Brunei Indonesia Malaysia Philippines - East Asian Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA), which seeks to progress economic growth and development in the ASEAN sub-region.
The Brunei royal family has maintained strong personal links with Britain, and also with the Malaysian ruling families. A British Ghurkha unit still guards the main oilfields area, and Britain helped recruit another Ghurkha unit directly employed by the Brunei Government as part of its own defence forces.
Last updated: 14 January 2009
