On February 23, acting Ambassador Hasmah Abas welcomed hundreds of guests to celebrate Brunei Darussalam’s National Day marking 23 years since Brunei’s independence from United Kingdom on January 1, 1984.

Hasmah Abas is among the few women who are heading foreign missions in Pakistan. Abdul Qadir Baloch, minister for states and frontier regions, was invited as the chief guest at the Independence Day celebrations.

Brunei, added the word Darussalam meaning, ‘abode of peace’, to its name. It is one of the world’s smallest countries with a population of just above 416,000 inhabitants in two unconnected small territories north of Borneo Island in the South China Sea.

Brunei is well-endowed with oil and natural gas resources. Brunei has experienced unprecedented growth since its independence 31 years ago and is classified as an industrialised country. On the human development index, it is listed second in Asia followed by Singapore. In 2011, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) listed Brunei’s GDP per capita as the fifth highest in the world. While Brunei has a parliament, the Sultan is head of state and holds the key cabinet portfolios. Brunei is a conservative Muslim country.

Published in Dawn March 1st , 2015

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