Academics to offer advice on agro-development in Brunei

Taipei, Jan. 9 (CNA) A group of
academics from Mingdao University in central Taiwan is scheduled to
leave Tuesday for Brunei to provide guidance on the development of
post-modern and organic agriculture in the Southeast Asian nation.

The delegation, to be led by university president Wang Da-yung, has
been invited by Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei to provide advice on
how to develop a sustainable agricultural sector in the oil-rich
country, said Cheng Chieh-ta, director of the university’s Office for
International Affairs.

During its four-day stay in Brunei, the
delegation is expected to visit with the sultan, meet with Brunei
experts and officials at a forum on agricultural technology, and go on
field trips to gain a better understanding of Brunei’s geography,
according to Cheng.

Brunei is a small country that lies on the
northern coast of the island of Borneo. Once the richest nation in the
world per capita, the people of Brunei enjoy a high standard of living,
mainly because of the country’s valuable offshore petroleum deposits.

Brunei’s sultan has said that besides exploiting the country’s crude
oil and natural gas deposits, it also needs to develop sustainable
industries, including agriculture, prompting him to invite academics
and scholars from abroad to exchange views with the government,
according to Cheng.