Brunei - Foreign Relations

Foreign Relations

With its traditional ties with the United Kingdom, it became the 49th member of the Commonwealth immediately on the day of its independence on 1 January 1984. As its first initiatives toward improved regional relations, Brunei joined ASEAN on 7 January 1984, becoming the sixth member. It later joined the United Nations at the 39th Session of the United Nations General Assembly and became a full member on 21 September 1984 as a means to achieve recognition of its sovereignty and full independence from the world community. As it is an Islamic country, Brunei Darussalam became a full member of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (now the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation) in January 1984 at the Fourth Islamic Summit held in Morocco.

After its accession to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC) in 1989, Brunei hosted the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in November 2000 and the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in July 2002. As for other economic ties, Brunei Darussalam became an original member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) since it came into force in 1 January 1995, and is a major player in BIMP-EAGA which was formed during the Inaugural Ministers’ Meeting in Davao, Philippines on 24 March 1994.

Brunei is recognized by every nation in the world. It shares a close relationship particularly with the Philippines and other nations such as Singapore. In April 2009, Brunei and the Philippines signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that seeks to strengthen the bilateral cooperation of the two countries in the fields of agriculture and farm-related trade and investments.

Brunei is one of many nations to lay claim to some of the disputed Spratly Islands. The status of Limbang as part of Sarawak was disputed by Brunei since the area was first annexed in 1890. The issue was reportedly settled in 2009, with Brunei agreeing to accept the border in exchange for Malaysia giving up claims to oil fields in Bruneian waters. The government, however, denies this and says that their claim on Limbang was never dropped.