Biggest Chinese investment project in Brunei to be operational by year end: minister

The first phase of Hengyi Industries' oil refinery and petrochemical plant at Brunei's Pulau Muara Besar (PMB) will be put into operation by the end of this year, Haji Mat Suny, the country's minister of energy, manpower and industry has said.

The 3.4-billion-U.S.-dollar refinery was 78 percent complete and is expected to contribute 1.33 billion U.S. dollars to Brunei's GDP in the first year, the minister said in his welcoming remarks to Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah, the Crown Prince and senior minister at the prime minister's office during his visit to PMB on Thursday.

Hengyi Industries is a joint venture between China's Zhejiang Hengyi Group and Damai Holdings, a subsidiary under Brunei government's Strategic Development Capital Fund, owning 70 percent and 30 percent respectively.

Hengyi's investment into PMB is the largest foreign direct investment into Brunei from China in recent years, which is expected to help Brunei upgrade its industries and alleviate its dependency on oil export, as well as to boost economic and trade cooperation between Brunei and China.

"The refinery project will create 1,665 jobs once operational, with at least 50 percent reserved for local job seekers, which will eventually increase to 90 percent in the future," the minister said.

Hengyi plans to move forward with the second phase of the project by 2022, worth another 10 billion U.S. dollars in investment, Chen Liancai, chief executive officer of Hengyi Industries told Xinhua on Friday.