In 2009, Brunei had a population of 415,717 people and a population growth rate of 1.9%. The economy was driven by the export of commodities such as crude oil and natural gas. Brunei was an active member in many international organisations including the United Nations, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). Politically, Brunei was a constitutional sultanate with two major political parties: the Brunei National Solidarity Party (BNSP) and the People’s Awareness Party (PAP). The then Sultan was Hassanal Bolkiah who had been in office since 1967. He had previously served as Prime Minister from 1984 to 1998 under President Sir Muda Omar Ali Saifuddien III. See internetsailors for Brunei in the year of 2011.
Yearbook 2009
Brunei. According to countryaah, Brunei and the other nine countries of the Southeast Asian cooperation organization ASEAN signed a free trade agreement with India in August after more than six years of negotiations. According to the agreement, customs duties between the parties are to be lowered on electronics, chemicals, machinery and textiles. These goods account for over 80 percent of ASEAN-India trade. The agreement is valid from January 1, 2010 and the duties will be gradually reduced to be completely abolished around 2016. The exceptions to the agreement were software and information technology as well as agricultural products and rubber. ASEAN also includes Burma, the Philippines, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. See ABBREVIATIONFINDER for abbreviation BN which stands for the nation of Brunei.
