Interview with Yang Mulia Awang Junaidi bin Haji Masri, Managing Director and CEO, Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam (BIBD)

11 Dec Interview with Yang Mulia Awang Junaidi bin Haji Masri, Managing Director and CEO, Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam (BIBD)

How significant is the support of Brunei’s financial services sector in maintaining the nation’s stable economic growth?

As Brunei continues its diversification efforts, the financial sector has always been at the forefront, working hand in hand with relevant agencies. This has resulted in a stream of financing opportunities, of which Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam (BIBD) has structured and participated as the country’s largest Islamic bank. As more companies in Brunei expand, local banks continue to support growth by providing services and products based on companies’ specific needs. Over the past few years, higher interest rates have supported the financial sector’s overall performance, with a large growth in margins, revenue and profitability. Financial institutions continue to support local economic growth, with foreign direct investment continuing to be a key contributor to the country’s economic development and diversification.

What significant milestones has BIBD achieved under its significant digitization agenda?

With the launch of Olive last year at our subsidiary BIBD At-Tawmil, we became the first financial institution in Brunei to introduce digital face recognition, electronic Know Your Customer and digitally signed documentation for onboarding clients and financial transactions. This system allows vendors and customers to interact online and eliminates the need to visit counters. We are currently working to roll out Olive into the larger BIBD group, which we expect to launch by late next year or early 2026. This will improve our operational and cost efficiency tremendously. Under the country’s upcoming National Digital Payment gateway platform, all financial institutions including telecommunication companies and e-wallets will be able to transact. This will create an efficient ecosystem with seamless financial transactions. Alongside this initiative, we are strengthening the group’s cybersecurity to ensure the system fits smoothly into our digital ecosystem.

What is BIBD doing to promote more sustainable social practices?

The bank has launched several successful initiatives as part of our commitment to sustainable development.  First, the BIBD Advocating Life-Long Learning for Aspiring Future (ALAF) program provides educational support to underprivileged but academically gifted students throughout their learning journey. The program has helped over 235 students. Five graduates are currently employed at the bank, with four studying abroad. Funded through our zakat, this program offers academic assistance, life skills, spiritual enrichment and relevant coaching aligned with industry needs. We use this to support marginalized groups. BIBD Special Entrepreneurial Empowerment and Development Scheme is our entrepreneurship program for underprivileged women with six cohorts. Project Tunas — run in collaboration with the Ministry of Home Affairs — has empowered home-based and micro businesses by providing essential skills to manage their business and onboarding them as bankable small and medium-sized enterprise customers. We are revamping our SME360 program to provide more hands-on support for these entities. This initiative will continue to evolve in the coming years. Additionally, we have launched solar panels at our headquarters, becoming the first commercial building to use solar energy. This helps reduce our carbon footprint. Concurrently, we are exploring collaborations to expand this program to other locations.

What initiatives is BIBD undertaking to nurture local leaders and foster a positive work environment?

Understanding the scarcity of specialized skills especially in the financial and information technology industries is important. As one of Brunei’s largest private sector employers with over 1,000 employees, we prioritize continuous learning and development. In 2023, we hit a record of more than 5,000 training days, which marks a 58.2% year-on-year increase.  We continue to enhance our in-house expertise by sponsoring workers to upgrade their skills by getting certifications in different fields. Academically, 12 employees have completed their Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development certification, and we are encouraging further certifications in audit, risk, compliance, finance, sales, marketing and business. These ongoing efforts have successfully upgraded our workforce under the bank’s career progression and succession planning strategy.

What current opportunities exist in the market that might appeal to US and other international investors?

The petrochemicals project — Brunei’s largest foreign direct investment initiative — has led to numerous spin-off businesses, including catering, materials supply, accommodation and transportation. Similarly, Brunei Fertilizer Industries has provided spin-offs for local businesses. Tax incentives, the ease of doing business and government support for facilitating investment processes have made Brunei an attractive destination for foreign direct investment. The success of the petrochemical sector in diversifying the economy has been notable, with foreign direct investment projects boosting local employment. We hope to see more businesses choosing Brunei as their next investment destination. We collaborate with our global counterparts, including some US banks, for placements, structured products and sukuk investments. The USA is strong in information technology, an area where Brunei could benefit from collaboration. Opportunities to explore cooperation and investment also exist in education and manufacturing.

What key areas is BIBD focusing on as part of its ten-year growth strategy?

As the largest bank in Brunei, we play an important role in supporting corporate businesses, government-linked companies, foreign direct investment and the retail market. Sustaining the bank’s growth trajectory in the next 10 to 20 years is a difficult easy task, especially considering current global macroeconomic uncertainty. A key achievement is that BIBD has met and adhered to governance standards required by listed companies and is ready for an initial public offering. Our goal is to grow the bank further in terms of financial growth in the next five years. We recently received the strongest bank award from The Asian Banker, which recognized not only our profitability but our efficiency, cost-to-income management, prudency and mitigation of risks in our assets reflected in the historical low of the bank’s non-performing financing.

With our strong and highly experienced team in risk, governance, compliance, auditing and business, we aim to grow the bank’s presence beyond Brunei’s borders into the Middle East and Singapore. BIBD is converting our Singapore and Dubai offices into branches, which will significantly expand our international footprint. Talent development has remained a key factor in our development, and we aim to continuously focus on enhancing leadership and managerial skills. We are exploring opportunities for cross-border secondment with financial institutions to broaden our employees’ knowledge in targeted areas. The bank is always looking to partner and collaborate with educational institutions including US universities to strengthen our learning and development programs.

Brand positioning is crucial. BIBD is recognized as the largest Islamic bank in Brunei. While there are many large challenges ahead, I am humbly thankful of the continuous support and commitment of our board members, shariah advisors, BIBD family, shareholders, customers, partners and international counterparts. Moving forward, we aim to elevate BIBD to the next level.