Brunei's Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office and Minister of Finance and Economy II Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Mohd Amin Liew. - Image from Borneo Bulletin/ANN
BNADAR SERI BEGAWAN (Borneo Bulletin/ANN): Innovation, which is synonymous with change, holds transformative qualities that should be acknowledged and embraced to continually renew ourselves.
Deeper delving into innovation will unfold infinite possibilities and opportunities, Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office and Minister of Finance and Economy II Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Mohd Amin Liew Abdullah said.
He made these comments as the Chairman of the Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam (BIBD) Group during the inauguration of the Olive Digital Innovation Conference (DigiCon) 2023 yesterday held at International Convention Centre in Berakas.
The minister highlighted two significant milestones in the history of BIBD Group, the 30th anniversary of Islamic banking and the amalgation of the Islamic Bank of Brunei (IBB) with the Islamic Development Bank of Brunei (IDBB), resulting in the creation of BIBD Group as it exists today.
“It was exactly three decades ago when our predecessors, under the guidance of His Majesty Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, the Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam made the historic decision to transition formal conventional bank operations to becoming a full-fledged Islamic bank,” Dr Awang said.
“This pivotal transformation marked the first major shift that has reshaped the trajectory of the BIBD Group’s path. These two pivotal changes brought about profound shifts in the way we operate and engage with our customers across the BIBD Group,” the minister added.
In the first transformation, the minister shared, all financial products and services underwent conversion to meet Syariah-compliant requirements, fundamentally transforming the bank’s operational framework.
Meanwhile, the second transition merged expertise, resources and strengths from both institutions, facilitating the formation of a new management team, fresh strategic direction and seamless integration of Islamic products, services and systems from both IBB and IDBB.
“Both significant changes in BIBD Group’s history provided significant benefits to shareholders, employees, customers and other stakeholders,” he said.
Today, the minister added, BIBD Group stands as the largest financial institution group in Brunei, a testament to our predecessor’s visionary strategies. “Embracing on digital transformation,” the minister said, “that innovation serves as the driving force behind the progress and has been identified as one of the key enablers to achieving Brunei’s Vision 2035 specifically Goal 3, of producing a dynamic and sustainable economy.
“History highlights the significance of staying relevant and adapting in a rapidly changing world. Countless businesses and industries that have failed to do so, like typewriters with the rise of computers and traditional retail disrupted by e-commerce giants, and ultimately became irrelevant. This underscores the vital role and need of continuous innovation,” the minister emphasised.
“We are now in the midst of the fourth industrial revolution, powered by revolutionary technologies. In embracing these innovations, the BIBD Group must also identify both the opportunities and threats they present,” he said. “We have set out ambitious goals under Project Olive – to implement Olive across the BIBD Group by 2025 to continue to provide customer service excellence, address their evolving needs, and to align with the vision of a Smart Nation as outlined by the Brunei Digital Economy Masterplan 2025.
“To that end, we launched the Olive mobile application at our subsidiary, BIBD At-Tamwil Berhad, marking the beginning of our third major transformation. We have set out ambitious goals under Project Olive – to implement Olive across the BIBD Group by 2025 to continue to provide customer service excellence, address their evolving needs,” he said.
The minister shared, “Olive has been and will transform the bank’s business model. Within the Olive ecosystem, the BIBD Group can streamline its operations, enhance efficiency, and deliver a seamless customer experience with real-time fulfilment of Syariah-compliant products and services, whereby face-to-face banking will become optional. These transformations are made possible by new technologies such as electronic ‘Know Your Customer’ (eKYC), digital signatures, artificial intelligence, and block-chain.
“Project Olive has a strong focus on facilitating and streamlining cross-border payments, offering efficient and secure solutions to our customers. Integration with the National Payment Gateway (NDPx) and our OlivePay engine enhances cost-efficiency, encourages e-money adoption and promotes powerful e-Wallet solutions.
“This will enable corporate clients to effortlessly register as merchants and accept digital payments via their own QR code payment system,” the minister said. – Borneo Bulletin/ANN
