# Is Brunei a developed country?



## Saranyu Saranopakul (Mar 10, 2005)

Is Brunei developed country? and why


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## 909 (Oct 22, 2003)

According to this site, i would say yes. 

From the World Factbook:



> (...) Brunei benefits from extensive petroleum and natural gas fields, the source of one of the highest per capita GDPs in the developing world.


But, isn't that fact giving a wrong impression because of the Sultan of Brunei?

And, that's important, what's the deal with countries if the are, or looking developed? Hapiness of the individual person in a country hasn't got many to do with prosper, and we all know hapiness is the most importent thing there is.


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## skyscraper_1 (May 30, 2004)

In terms of economic and social development -yes or very close to developed.


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## kunming (Oct 23, 2003)

Country is definitely rich but not developed.


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## Donkie (Mar 5, 2003)

^ What do you mean ?


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## Imperfect Ending (Apr 7, 2003)

"372,361 (July 2005 est.)"


Its only June.


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## lumpia (Apr 10, 2004)

yes Brunei is a developed country (full stop!)*.*


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## Saranyu Saranopakul (Mar 10, 2005)

can anyone post some pic of Brunei?


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## jmancuso (Jan 9, 2003)

no becuase like saudi arabia and much of the UAE, the wealth comes from the oil and gas fields they happen to sit on not becuase they have a diversified and sustaining economies.


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## eklips (Mar 29, 2005)

But are the living conditions generaly good over there or is the wealth in the hands of a minority?


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## Tonka Truck (Jan 26, 2005)

Economicly due to gas & oil fields, yes. Socialy? Still in the dark ages.


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## kiretoce (May 26, 2004)

Tonka Truck said:


> Economicly due to gas & oil fields, yes. Socialy? Still in the dark ages.


I agree.


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## Azn_chi_boi (Mar 11, 2005)

jmancuso said:


> no becuase like saudi arabia and much of the UAE, the wealth comes from the oil and gas fields they happen to sit on not becuase they have a diversified and sustaining economies.


I was going to say the same....


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## Monkey (Oct 1, 2002)

kunming said:


> Country is definitely rich but not developed.


i agree....


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## Rupmulalauk (Jul 29, 2002)

Tonka Truck said:


> Economicly due to gas & oil fields, yes. Socialy? Still in the dark ages.


What's with labelling it socially being in the dark ages? I've been in Brunei like my whole life, people here are open and friendly, they know how the rest of the world looks like, it's very safe..this country also has the most number of SMEs per capita in Asia. It's not only oil..the garment industry here contributes to US$250 million a year which can sustain the small population.
Anyway, Brunei is not a developed country. It's still developing and sadly pretty slow due to many factors including it's small population which pales in comparison to it's more dynamic neighbours. Based on the UNDP rankings, it's the most developed muslim country though..at least when it comes to human welfare.


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## lumpia (Apr 10, 2004)

Tonka Truck said:


> Economicly due to gas & oil fields, yes. Socialy? Still in the dark ages.


tsk tsk tsk.. no tolerance, i'd say u n everyone who thought like you were the real guys livin in the stone age: i'm sure your thought processes go along the rough lines of: "that man no do what we do. that not good. he bad man"..

tsk tsk tsk


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## DarkLite (Dec 31, 2004)

hmmm, most of it is jungle, but i'd say YES by the looks of pictures of it in SSC forums


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## DarkLite (Dec 31, 2004)

the capital looks amazing


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## Occit (Jul 24, 2005)

*According to the last HDI 2008, Brunei is already a Developed country, it's over 0.900 points. But...i never have seen a picture of Bandar Seri Begawan... is any SSC Member from this country???* :dunno:


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## DarkLite (Dec 31, 2004)

Oh my goodness why do people even bother digging through the forums to resurrect 3 year old threads! But yeah the guy aboves me makes a good point, we dont have any photos of Brunei


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## koresh (Sep 3, 2007)

*Brunei*

Read this thread about Brunei, here are some photos taken by me in 2004-2005. 

*Bandar Seri Begawan - Brunei *

_click to view bigger size.
_











*Bandar Sari Begwan, Brunei *










*Kampung Ayer, Brunei*










*Shopping Centre, Bandar Seri Begwan*


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## _BPS_ (Feb 7, 2005)




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## nazrey (Sep 12, 2003)

*EXCHANGE RATES* (Greater South East Asia)
Sunday, December 21, 2008

*1 Brunei Dollar = 0.69190 US Dollar 
1 US Dollar (USD) = 1.44530 Brunei Dollar (BND*

1 Singapore Dollar = 0.68540 US Dollar 
1 US Dollar (USD) = 1.45901 Singapore Dollar (SGD)

1 Malaysian Ringgit = 0.29132 US Dollar 
1 US Dollar (USD) = 3.43260 Malaysian Ringgit (MYR)

1 Thai Baht = 0.02943 US Dollar 
1 US Dollar (USD) = 33.97345 Thai Baht (THB)

1 Philippine Peso = 0.02168 US Dollar 
1 US Dollar (USD) = 46.12400 Philippine Peso (PHP)

1 Vietnamese Dong = 0.00005953 US Dollar 
1 US Dollar (USD) = 16,798.0 Vietnamese Dong (VND)

1 Indonesian Rupiah = 0.00008890 US Dollar 
1 US Dollar (USD) = 11,248.6 Indonesian Rupiah (IDR)

*GDP (PPP) per capita*

*Brunei 50,790	*
Singapore 49,754	
Malaysia 13,385
Thailand 7,907	
Indonesia 3,728
Philippine 3,383	
Vietnam 2,589

Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(PPP)_per_capita


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## nazrey (Sep 12, 2003)

*2008 Human Development Index (HDI)* (Greater South East Asia)
UNDP : http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics/

*27 Brunei Darussalam *
28 Singapore
63 Malaysia
81 Thailand
102 Philippines
109 Indonesia
114 Vietnam


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## Gaeus (Mar 21, 2007)

jmancuso said:


> no becuase like saudi arabia and much of the UAE, the wealth comes from the oil and gas fields they happen to sit on not becuase they have a diversified and sustaining economies.



You are totally right with that but not those two countries you mentioned though. Probably Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain is much related to that. However, I am not sure how they distribute their wealth. I am pretty sure there is a big piece of a pie that goes to the Sultan but I am not sure how much the citizens are getting.


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## Jaeger (May 11, 2006)

Britain has retained close links with Brunei, their is a British Army Jungle Warfare School in Brunei, and a permanent battalion of British Army Gurkhas.

http://www2.army.mod.uk/brunei/index.htm

The Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah has a knighthood from the Queen. The Sultan holds an honorary commission in the Royal Air Force of the United Kingdom as an Air Chief Marshal.
He is also an Honorary Admiral of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom, a title given to him by Queen Elizabeth II when he took the salute at the passing out parade of the 2001 summer term at Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, the Royal Navy's officer-training school in the United Kingdom. The Sultan also owns property in London.


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## steve_skyline (Jul 30, 2005)

nazrey said:


> *EXCHANGE RATES* (Greater South East Asia)
> Sunday, December 21, 2008
> 
> *1 Brunei Dollar = 0.69190 US Dollar
> ...


Rank 1st Qatar 87,600
Economicly due to gas & oil fields, yes.
Of course Brunei, Qatar, Arab Saudi and the UAE are developing country/city.
In Asia, only Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea are developed nations.


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## Christay 奸人 (Dec 21, 2008)

:bash::bash:The population of Brunei now is 450000,BSB only,300000.I hope Brunei can build ten 60 stroey skyscrapers lah,haha!~!:bash::bash:


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## Occit (Jul 24, 2005)

steve_skyline said:


> Rank 1st Qatar 87,600
> Economicly due to gas & oil fields, yes.
> Of course Brunei, Qatar, Arab Saudi and the UAE are developing country/city.
> In Asia, only Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea are developed nations.


According to the new HDI Report 2008; Brunei, Qatar, UAE, Kuwait and Bahrein are over 0.900, so you could consider them already developed.


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## steve_skyline (Jul 30, 2005)

Occit said:


> According to the new HDI Report 2008; Brunei, Qatar, UAE, Kuwait and Bahrein are over 0.900, so you could consider them already developed.


There are many aspects to determine whether the city/country is in developed region. In Asia, the only developed nations are Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea.


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## Occit (Jul 24, 2005)

steve_skyline said:


> There are many aspects to determine whether the city/country is in developed region. In Asia, the only developed nations are Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea.


According you criteria only Japan would be developed...


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## steve_skyline (Jul 30, 2005)

Occit said:


> According you criteria only Japan would be developed...


5 world financial centre: New York, London, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Paris.
[Japan,Hong Kong,Singapore,Taiwan,South Korea] RICH DEVELOPED NATIONS with strong financial status and world class infrastructure.

Hong Kong:- 1) Located the most foreign regional HQ in Asia, eg: Standard Chartered, AIG, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, AXA, Phillips, Microsoft, HSBC..etc. 2) 2nd largest stock market in Asia after Tokyo. 3) World 3rd largest received FDI only behind the United States and United Kingdom. 4) Full service world class city on par with Chicago, LA, etc. 5) Asia most updated financial information flow and business activities. 6) World 5th largest forex centre & world 4th largest financial centre. 7) World 8th most traded currency with only 7 millions population. 8) One of the world largest concentration of luxury stuffs.

Singapore:- 1) Asia 2nd most located foreign regional HQ, eg: Caltex, DHL..etc 2) World 4th largest forex centre & world 8th largest financial centre.

Taiwan:- 1) Vibrant economy, industrial country. 2) Taipei having the largest wifi coverage and excellent broadband penetrations. 3) At least get 6/12 points being the major world city. 

South Korea:- 1) Large economy, industrial country. 2) Seoul having one of the world largest broadband penetrations with advanced technology. 3) At least get 7/12 points being the major world city. 

The only developed nations in Asia are Japan,Hong Kong,Singapore,Taiwan and South Korea.


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## Skyprince (May 2, 2006)

steve_skyline said:


> 5 world financial centre: New York, London, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Paris.
> [Japan,Hong Kong,Singapore,Taiwan,South Korea] RICH DEVELOPED NATIONS with strong financial status and world class infrastructure.
> 
> Hong Kong:- 1) Located the most foreign regional HQ in Asia, eg: Standard Chartered, AIG, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, AXA, Phillips, Microsoft, HSBC..etc. 2) 2nd largest stock market in Asia after Tokyo. 3) World 3rd largest received FDI only behind the United States and United Kingdom. 4) Full service world class city on par with Chicago, LA, etc. 5) Asia most updated financial information flow and business activities. 6) World 5th largest forex centre & world 4th largest financial centre. 7) World 8th most traded currency with only 7 millions population. 8) One of the world largest concentration of luxury stuffs.
> ...


Brunei- very high quality, spacious and luxurious housing ( where else in East and SouthEast Asia you'll find the majority of its population live in palatial homes as in Brunei ? :cheers: ) ; superb infrastructure -wide roads and world-class highways ; the HAPPIEST country in entire Asia ( based on survey done by Leicester University UK ) , with extremely low crime rate.

The population of Brunei is only 400,000 - so you can't compare it to highly populated "vibrant" economies of Asia. Broadband is slower in Brunei due to its sprawling towns and cities, and >90% of exports come from oil and its related industries.

So to my view, Brunei isn't a developed economy, but it has very high standard of living .


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## Xusein (Sep 27, 2005)

Brunei is one of the few countries in the world not to have any external or public debt. 

Very impressive, imo.


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## Gid (Mar 31, 2005)

developed or not, i dont know. it is just a word game based on technicalities.

but brunei definitely has awesome standards of living. it is highly developed not just economically, but also socially and culturally. 

it is not "one of those other middle eastern cities" that suddenly sprung up. Brunei has a more matured developmental history that has been very sustainable.

it is a great country. just that it is low-profile since it is really small, not not plugged into the global economy.


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## Occit (Jul 24, 2005)

Gid said:


> developed or not, i dont know. it is just a word game based on technicalities.
> 
> but brunei definitely has awesome standards of living. it is highly developed not just economically, but also socially and culturally.
> 
> ...


I'm agree. I think is developed, understanding DEVELOPMENT as quality of life, not as the existence of HIGHWAYS, SKYSCRAPERS, POWERFUL MEDIA AND STOCK MARKETS.


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## steve_skyline (Jul 30, 2005)

Occit said:


> I'm agree. I think is developed, understanding DEVELOPMENT as quality of life, not as the existence of HIGHWAYS, SKYSCRAPERS, POWERFUL MEDIA AND STOCK MARKETS.


[Japan,Hong Kong,Singapore,Taiwan,South Korea] RICH DEVELOPED NATIONS.
They also excel in quality of life, possessing very high HDI rankings as well as high purchasing power. East Asian nations (Japan,Hong Kong,Taiwan,South Korea) and SEA city(Singapore) being the most powerful nations in Asia and dominant in almost all aspects; economy, quality of life, purchasing power, HDI, infrastucture, financial status,contribution & influence, foreign investment, modernity, fashion, architecture, luxury stuffs...etc.


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## The Knowledgeable (Nov 8, 2007)

You forgot Israel 
Sorry if I sound nationalist, I know how annoying it is.


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## earlat (Sep 9, 2006)

Brunei, in my opinion, is a developed country. The population and the economic size might not be that big compared to it's neighbors but the quality of life surpasses most of it's Asian counterparts.


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## jcarloschile (Jul 12, 2008)

If you discount the sultan......how big would the change in the GDP per capita be?


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