Brunei Darussalam.
BLUE READY
Implementation Ready and Building Momentum
BLUE INNOVATOR
Implementation Ready and Accelerating Progress
National Snapshot.
Brunei Darussalam is actively building momentum in its Blue Economy journey, with a strategic focus on diversifying its economy and creating new employment opportunities, reflecting ongoing considerations about the long-term role of oil and gas and the importance of exploring sustainable alternatives.
The government is focusing on sectors like fisheries, aquaculture, shipping, tourism and marine conservation which aligns with Brunei’s broader goals of sustainable development and environmental protection.
Based on its demonstrated foundational momentum and readiness to advance implementation despite their small geographical size, Brunei Darussalam’s Blue Economy profile is classified as Blue Ready.
Implementation Progress
Implementation Progress
Building momentum
Brunei Darussalam has expressed a strategic interest in developing its blue economy (Kamis, 2023). In this context, the blue economy is envisioned as a catalyst for economic diversification, offering new sources of value creation and employment opportunities. Historically, Brunei’s marine economic activities have been heavily reliant on the oil and gas sector. However, future development plans aim to expand into other high-potential sectors such as fisheries and aquaculture, shipping and port services, and marine tourism. These sectors are expected to contribute to a broader goal of promoting sustainable ocean development, aligned with regional development initiatives.
To support this transition, the Brunei government has undertaken concrete measures to protect and conserve marine ecosystems and resources. These efforts include enhancing marine research and development through multi-stakeholder collaboration. Notably, the government has prioritized inclusive engagement by involving women and youth through outreach and education programs—such as the annual Ocean Week Brunei (OWB) event, which serves as a nation-wide platform for enhancing public awareness, capacity building, and stimulating stakeholders’ dialogue on ocean topics.
Brunei has made good progress in social and natural capitals. The incorporation of a sustainable blue economy element and wider inclusion of public participation in ocean-related policymaking indicating strong social support of Brunei blue economy development. The blue economy is seen as an opportunity for advancing sustainable growth from the ocean domain, by advocating environmentally sensible and sustainable business practices. This is Brunei’s perspective that was incorporated in the Economic Blueprint for Brunei Darussalam: Aspiration 4 'Sustainable Environment' (Ministry of Finance and Economy [MOFE], 2020). Besides, the Wawasan Brunei 2035 aims to create a “dynamic and sustainable economy” which is in full alignment with the blue economy discourse. The same intent is also exemplified in the 12th National Development Plan, reiterating: “Sustainable environment, through green initiatives and the Blue Economy approach, has become the national agenda in addressing issues of climate change and the risk of natural disasters, which will contribute towards resilient socioeconomic growth so that the country’s natural resources can be inherited by future generations” (MOFE, 2024) . Beyond the statement and intention, Brunei has taken a significant step to support its blue economy initiative, these include fishing moratoriums (e.g., issuance of new fishing licenses and mesh size), zoning of fishing grounds, MPAs, the establishment and artificial reefs initiative, altogether providing positive contributions to maintain the integrity of their aquatic natural capital.
Explore how Brunei Darussalam is positioned for each of the
Blue Economy Capitals.
Financial
Capital.
Financial Capital.
Currently, Brunei is yet to establish initiatives or mechanisms to enable blue financing , pointing to an important area for future development in innovative financing to support its blue economy development. The Islamic financing instrument, such as Blue Sukuk, is a potential prospect to be utilised in Brunei’s blue economy context due to the compatibility of the financing mechanism with Brunei cultural-religious values (i.e. Maqasid al-Syariah that promote social justice principles) and commitment to support net zero goals by promoting a low-carbon and climate-resilient economy. The Economic Blueprint for Brunei Darussalam and the recent five-year national development plan RKN12 2024–2029, both set a clear direction for a more sustainable environment through blue and green investments (Brunei Darussalam Central Bank [BDCB], 2025).
Brunei is currently exploring the potential of blue carbon initiatives, identifying the linkage between land and sea where forests, mangroves, and reefs are interconnected. Recently, Brunei hosted the International Forest to Reef Expedition and Conference, which brought together experts to enhance cooperation in managing land, coastal, and marine ecosystems. The conference covered various topics, including the role of blue carbon ecosystems, ecosystem synergies linking forests and reefs for biodiversity conservation, innovations in monitoring and restoring forest and coastal ecosystems, ecosystem valuation as the economics of ecosystem services in forests and coastal ecosystems, blue carbon ecosystems as climate solutions, and findings from the expedition on forest to reef (Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism Brunei Darussalam, 2025).
Physical
Capital.
Physical Capital.
Brunei Darussalam is a geographically small country situated in a critical international trading route. With a strong economic reliance on oil and gas export industry which contributes to 57% of the national GDP (2019), the country has made significant progress in developing their ports infrastructure (OECD, 2021). Most goods entering Brunei Darussalam are administered through the Port of Muara, the country's primary and sole deep-water port. The port has direct shipping routes to the port of Shanghai, Guangzhou, Manilla, Vietnam, Thailand, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur. The other ports, such as Bandar Seri Begawan Port, Kuala Belait Port, Tanjong Salirong Port and Lumut Port can handle international or domestic vessels at the smaller scale and capacity than Muara Port.
There are opportunities to develop infrastructure to support other aspects of the Blue Economy, especially tourism, renewable energy, carbon capture and fisheries. Diversifying food sources, improving storage facilities and safety, and increasing self-sufficiency in seafood production and distribution are some key actions that have been identified as means of ensuring ongoing food security (Ramli & Waskitho, 2023). There are also opportunities to modernise and upgrade existing infrastructure as it reaches the end of its life, including power plants and water treatment facilities to improve environmental, social and economic outcomes for the Brunei blue economy.
Human
Capital.
Human Capital.
Brunei’s strong Human Development Index (HDI) score of 0.837 in 2023—second only to Singapore among ASEAN countries—reflects its significant progress in key areas of wellbeing. At the same time, the country is actively navigating challenges related to youth employment, particularly among individuals aged 18 and above (MOFE, 2024; UNDP, 2025). Ongoing efforts are focused on enhancing alignment between educational pathways and labour market needs, as gaps remain in connecting graduates’ skills with evolving industry demands. Strengthening these linkages presents a valuable opportunity for Brunei to further empower its young workforce and build a more responsive, future-ready economy. (Kamis, 2023; MOFE, 2024).
Social
Capital.
Social Capital.
While a formal blue economy policy has not yet been introduced in Brunei Darussalam, current developments clearly signal movement in that direction. The term has been referred by the government officials and being embedded in national development plans documents. In 2020, the Ministry of Finance and Economy published Towards a Dynamic and Sustainable Economy: Economic Blueprint for Brunei Darussalam. ‘Aspiration 4 – Sustainable Environment’ mentions ‘green and blue economy’ as an example of sustainable development (MOFE, 2020). The blue economy concept is also adopted in Wawasan Brunei 2035’s Goal 3: Dynamic and sustainable economy and the 12th National Development Plan. At the practical level, Brunei built community awareness about the importance of the blue economy, nurturing a sense of ownership and opening the opportunity for stakeholders’ engagement in sustainable ocean development. This is evident with the initiatives such as the Blue Economy Symposium in 2023 and the annual Ocean Week Brunei event. While the symposium facilitated multistakeholder engagement in ideas and knowledge sharing as well as networking, Ocean Week Brunei focuses on promoting ocean values through conservation initiatives, featuring workshops, beach clean-ups, and youth campaigns relevant to ocean protection and sustainability. The latter encourages everyone to take responsibility for the health of our oceans. Inclusivity and sustainability messages highlight the Ocean Week Brunei’s Pillars, while encouraging education, innovation and technology as critical elements for sustainable future in ocean development. Altogether, these initiatives contribute to Wawasan Brunei 2035, UN SDG 2030 and Net Zero 2050, characterise by environmental sustainability, economic diversity, and social harmony (OWB, 2025).
Natural
Capital.
Natural Capital.
Brunei exhibits a strong commitment to the health of its marine environments. The preservation of marine ecosystems and biodiversity has become a fundamental aspect of the nation’s development strategy, which prioritizes the attainment of a sustainable balance between marine and coastal habitats. This commitment also aligns with Brunei's efforts to fulfill its international obligations regarding sustainable ocean governance. The country has adopted an ecosystem-based policy actions, while promoting cooperation at the regional level (UN, 2025; MOFE, 2024). Those actions include designating over 20% of its fisheries management area as “No Take Zone” or Marine Protected Areas, enforcing a moratorium on new bottom trawling licenses, banning shark fishing and all shark products trading since 2015, implementing a mandatory use of Automatic Identification System on commercial fishing vessels, extending seagrass conservation to restoration, and rolling out artificial reefs initiatives. Brunei also firmly stands in its position to tackle marine plastic pollution through its “No Plastic Bag Everyday” campaign and community-led coastal clean-ups. Overall, Brunei's sustainable ocean governance policies align with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. This alignment is reflected in the updated National Biodiversity Policy and Strategic Plan of Action for 2024–2030, which establishes goals for sustainable resource management, equitable benefit-sharing, and increased public awareness of biodiversity issues (UN, 2025).
Implementation Capacity
Implementation Capacity
implementation ready
Brunei, a relatively small country by size, encounters limitations in implementing the blue economy due to geography and unoptimized human capacity readiness, especially in addressing educational disparities and workforce requirements.
However, it has well developed governance capacity, particularly in effectiveness, corruption control, and regulatory quality (World Bank, 2024).
This enables Brunei to deliver efficient public services, enforce laws impartially, and establish clear regulations for the blue economy development.
