Brunei Darussalam

Brunei Darussalam

Updated August 18, 2023
Brunei Darussalam
The State of Brunei Darussalam (Brunei) is located on the
gas, food, tourism, information-communications and
northwest coast of the Island of Borneo, and is bordered
technology (ICT), and services.
and bifurcated by eastern Malaysia. Brunei has a land mass
of 2,226 square miles (slightly smaller than Delaware). It
The DEPS states Brunei’s merchandise exports in 2022
possesses substantial oil and natural gas reserves and is
totaled around $14.6 billion; merchandise imports were
located along the strategically and economically important
worth $9.7 billion. Brunei’s leading trading partners are
sea lanes of the South China Sea (SCS). Brunei is a
Singapore, the People’s Republic of China (PRC, or China),
predominately Sunni Muslim state with a population of
and Japan. Major sources of foreign direct investment in
around 485,000, consisting of mostly ethnic Malays and a
Brunei are China, Malaysia, Singapore, and the United
substantial ethnic Chinese minority. The capital city is
Kingdom; these investments are mostly in Brunei’s natural
Bandar Seri Begawan. Congress oversees U.S. trade and
resources sector.
security relations with Brunei, and monitors Brunei’s
disputes in the SCS.
Brunei has a history of advocating in favor of trade and
investment liberalization in the region. It was a founding
Brunei is a constitutional monarchy, headed by Sultan Haji
member of the 2006 Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic
Hassanal Bolkiah, who is both head of state and Prime
Partnership (P4), the forerunner of the 12-country Trans-
Minister, as well as Minister of Finance and the Economy,
Pacific Partnership (TPP), from which the United States
Defense, and Foreign Affairs. The Sultan is one of the
withdrew in 2017. It is a member of the 2018
world’s wealthiest people. He is advised by the Council of
Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-
Ministers, which he reshuffled in June 2022, as well as a
Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), and the 2020 Regional
Religious Council, Privy Council, and Legislative Council,
Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
all of which are appointed by the monarch. Brunei’s legal
system is based on a combination of British common law
Figure 1. Map of Brunei Darussalam
and Indian penal code; this legal system was amended in
2014 to include Islamic law (Sharia or locally, Syariah).
The U.S. State Department cites restricted press, weak civil
society, and repression of marginalized groups as
challenges in Brunei that stymie U.S. attempts to promote
human rights in the country. Some Members of Congress
have expressed concern with human rights conditions in
Brunei, including reported human rights violations
associated with the country’s 2014 imposition of Sharia
law.
Brunei’s Economy
According to its Department of Economic Planning and
Statistics (DEPS), Brunei’s gross domestic product (GDP)
in 2022 was approximately $17.1 billion. Its per capita
GDP in 2022 was approximately $38,400. Brunei’s
economy is dominated by the extraction and export of oil
and gas, which provide about 50% of the country’s GDP.

The government uses revenue from the state energy
Sources: CIA World Factbook, World Bank.
company, Brunei Energy Services and Trading (formerly
known as Brunei National Petroleum Corp.), to subsidize
Brunei’s Regional Role
infrastructure development and social programs. Declining
Brunei has played a role in regional diplomacy on a number
offshore oil reserves, combined with lower oil prices,
of issues. It was the Chair of the Association of Southeast
present a challenge for the country’s development. In 2021,
Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2021, the year that a coup d’etat
the Brunei government launched the Brunei Economic
installed a military junta in Burma (also known as
Blueprint, which provides guidelines for developing the
Myanmar), and it coordinated ASEAN’s initial response to
country’s economy. The Blueprint recommends
the crisis that followed. In addition to ASEAN, it is a
strengthening five “priority sectors” to reduce the country’s
member of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
economic dependence on oil and gas: downstream oil and
forum, as well as ASEAN-centered bodies such as the East
Asia Summit (EAS), ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), and
ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting-Plus (ADMM+). It is
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Brunei Darussalam
also a member of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation
nine-dash line that the PRC uses to demarcate its own
(OIC), the World Trade Organization (WTO), the
claims.
International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, and
many other multilateral organizations.
Brunei’s approach to its maritime claim in the SCS is
restrained compared to the other claimants, and Bruneian
U.S. Relations with Brunei
stakeholders are rarely engaged in the clashes at sea that
The United States established diplomatic relations with
frequently involve claimants like the PRC, the Philippines,
Brunei in 1984, following its independence from the United
and Vietnam. Brunei is an active participant in negotiations
Kingdom. In 1994, the two countries signed a memorandum
between ASEAN and China over these issues and over a
of understanding (MOU) on defense cooperation. More
possible code of conduct for parties in the region. It has also
recently, U.S. relations with Brunei have focused on
negotiated bilateral territorial agreements with neighboring
Brunei’s role in addressing maritime territorial and
Malaysia. In 2009, the two countries exchanged letters
sovereignty disputes in the SCS, Brunei’s role in ASEAN,
settling the demarcation of their respective territorial seas
and the implementation of Sharia law in Brunei. According
and establishing a committee to determine their shared
to the State Department, the United States provides no
maritime borders. The agreement included a pact that gave
foreign assistance to Brunei.
each side authority over energy exploration and
development in certain areas of the sea—a deal that some
One of the largest cooperative U.S.-Brunei initiatives of
experts say could be a model for other negotiations in the
recent years was the Brunei-U.S. English Enhancement
area.
Programme for ASEAN, a Brunei-funded program run
jointly by the Universiti Brunei Darussalam and the East-
Some analysts argue that Brunei’s pursuit of economic
West Center in Honolulu. The program, launched in 2012,
diversity, along with extensive Chinese investment in the
provides English-language education to government
country in recent years, has made Brunei more reluctant to
officials, diplomats, and teachers from other ASEAN
make strong public assertions against PRC assertiveness in
countries.
the SCS than other Southeast Asian claimants. Beginning
operations in November 2019, Hengyi Enterprises, a private
Defense Cooperation
Chinese company, constructed a $3.4 billion refinery in
Brunei’s armed forces participate in training programs and
Brunei, which some observers characterize as the largest
other military activities with the United States. Brunei
foreign investment ever in the country. In March 2023,
cadets attend U.S. military academies. In August 2018,
Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) Yussof
Brunei and the United States held their first bilateral Army
announced a $9 billion expansion of the complex.
exercises, focusing on areas of potential cooperation such
as jungle warfare and combat in urban terrain.
Syariah Law
In 2014, Brunei began implementing the first phase of the
U.S. security interests in Brunei focus heavily on maritime
Syariah Penal Code, with most of the Code’s laws applying
issues, particularly related to China’s assertions in the
to everyone in the country, regardless of religion. The Code
Exclusive Economic Zones claimed by Brunei and its
came into full effect in April 2019, with some international
Southeast Asian neighbors in the SCS; on the maintenance
observers having condemned some of its aspects. The
of safe passage through sea lanes; and the prevention of
United Nations, for example, cited the Code’s death penalty
piracy. Annual U.S.-Brunei military exercises, such as the
by stoning for blasphemy, rape, sodomy, homosexuality,
bilateral Cooperation Afloat Readiness Brunei exercise and
and extra-marital sex as evidence that the new laws violate
the multilateral Rim of the Pacific exercise, are designed to
international human rights standards.
strengthen regional cooperation on maritime security,
including by enhancing maritime domain awareness among
U.S. policymakers, including some Members of Congress,
U.S. partners.
have expressed concern at the Code’s prohibition of
proselytizing—and converting to—Christianity and other
Brunei has increased its military spending and has been
religions besides Islam. Opponents of the Code also express
actively promoting military relations with several countries,
concern about its implications for the LGBTQ community.
including Russia, Singapore, and Vietnam. In February
Several members of the 116th Congress introduced H.R.
2022, Brunei raised its annual defense budget for FY2023
2561 to authorize the President to impose sanctions on any
to $567 million, a 2% increase over the previous year.
Brunei government officials who implement Syariah Penal
Code provisions that grossly violate human rights; the bill
South China Sea
did not progress past the introduction stage.
Brunei is one of four Southeast Asian countries that has
territorial disputes with the PRC (and with Taiwan) in the
Joseph O. Yinusa, Research Assistant
South China Sea. Brunei claims—but does not occupy—
Ben Dolven, Specialist in Asian Affairs
part of the Spratly Island chain in the southern part of the
SCS. Brunei claims a 200-nautical-mile continental shelf
IF11009
extending from its mainland, which encompasses some land
features in the Spratly Islands and which overlaps with the

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Brunei Darussalam

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