Brunei Times

Today, Bruneis main export is pretty well known even to non-Bruneians. Our oil and gas exports are the main items driving our export markets and the nations income. But oil was only discovered in 1929 in Seria. However, historians have indicated that Brunei had been very active in the ancient maritime trade for centuries. So, what was it that Brune... i did in all those years to ensure that ships from China, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Malacca and other nations to come and trade with Brunei? Brunei had geography on her side. Brunei was ideally located among the busy trade routes in Southeast Asia. Its sheltered bay protecting ships from the monsoon winds and positioned as a halfway house for the travel journeys from Korea and China to the Southeast Asian nation states all no doubt played a role in making ships come and stop by to trade with us here in Brunei. Geography alone is not sufficient. Trading ships would only gladly come and navigate to Brunei if there was anything worth to buy and marketed. Pengiran Dr Karim in his book The Brunei Shipwreck: A catalogue of some selected artefacts and Bruneis ancient trade products published by the Brunei Museum in 2015. noted that anything that was rare, and exotic was in demand and would bring big profit and fortune. Traders would rather risk their lives and belongings in favour of wealth. Pengiran Dr Karim (2015) noted that it was Bruneis fortune (that) depended on her rich in natural, jungle and sea resources, which was highly in demand in the international markets. During that time, Brunei was a big country with large territories. This was a bonus for Brunei because it was the bountiful resources essential for trade. Resources were also collected from neighouring states and distributed via the Brunei Port. The varieties of resources had influenced merchants and trading ships to come to Brunei and contributed Brunei into the helm of maritime trade. Brunei was known to have a high quality of forest, sea and natural products which are needed by the Chinese and the ...Read More