As discussed in section 2, the economy of Brunei is strongly dependent upon oil and gas exports.
Historically and globally, the dependency upon a narrow range of natural resource exports has proven a
fragile base for long term development. The Brunei government has recently formulated a 30 year
development framework: the Wawasan Brunei 3035. This framework seeks to provide guidance to the
nation on how it can place the country in the top ten globally in terms of quality of life and income per
capita (Brunei Government 2008, pp. 12-13). In order to achieve the Wawasan 2035, the government
recognizes that there is a need to diversify the economy away from the oil and gas sector. Economic
diversification, and finding viable strategies to broaden the economic base, is therefore one of the most
pressing policy concerns for Brunei