ENERGY Week 2014, the Energy White Paper and the Brunei Oil and Gas Book were officially launched yesterday by His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam at the BRIDEX International Convention Centre in Jerudong.

His Majesty was welcomed upon arrival by the Minister of Energy at the Prime Minister’s Office, Pehin Datu Singamanteri Col (Rtd) Dato Seri Setia (Dr) Hj Mohammad Yasmin bin Hj Umar, before pro-ceedings began with recitations of Surah Al-Fatihah and Doa Selamat.

The monarch then officiated the launching of the Energy Week 2014, Energy White Paper and the Brunei Oil and Gas Book, before consenting to receive a pesambah and being introduced to the BNERI (Brunei National Energy Research Institute) International Advisory Board mem-bers and speakers.

This was followed by a tour of BRIDEX’s Exhibition Hall 2, which houses the Energy Week Exhibition, where the ruler viewed various booths and exhibits on display, which included, among others, a showcase of the latest green technologies, products and appliances in the fields of energy efficiency and conservation as well as renewable energy.

His Majesty then moved onto the other exhibition hall, which is divided into three areas; namely, the Energy Industry Competency Framework (EICF) Fair, the Brunei Maritime Academy (BMA) Pavilion, and the Career and Job Fair. Here, the monarch met a number of young professionals and trainees, and was visibly pleased.

Shortly after, His Majesty left the ceremony, but not before consenting to grant the crowd of people lined up by the door their wish to take a few snapshots with the beloved monarch.

Meanwhile, speaking to the Borneo Bulletin yesterday about the launch, the Minister of Energy at the Prime Minister’s Office said that he was happy with how everything is set up, and that he is looking forward to seeing more people come and visit BRIDEX to take a look at everything on offer.

“Ninety per cent of our revenue comes from the oil and gas industry,” remarked Pehin Dato Seri Setia (Dr) Hj Mohammad Yasmin. “So why should people come to Energy Week? Because the industry will basically grow. The industry will provide jobs – a lot of employment will be provided… There is a future in this industry.”

He also noted that a message they want to convey with the exhibition is that of the importance of energy efficiency and conservation.

A total of 1,130 job vacancies for locals are being offered at the Energy Week’s job fair. Commenting on how such a large number of vacancies have become available, he simply said, “They’ve always been there.”

“The companies know that if they want to do work in the oil and gas industry, they need to prepare local contents and local talents, because that is part and parcel of them winning a tender, as part of the LBD directives,” he explained.

The Bulletin also spoke to a young professional from the oil and gas industry – Maisarah Khairunnisa binti Abdul Halim, a field engineer for Baker Hughes.

Regarding the opportunities on offer at the Energy Week, she said, “There is no end of opportunity wherever you go as long as you know what you want to do and whether or not your heart is really in it.”

“As far as opportunities are concerned, they are not supposed to open up to you. You are the one who’s supposed to be open to them,” she asserted.

When asked for her thoughts on why people should come to the Energy Week event, she replied, “Because of everything on offer. A lot of people think ‘Oh, I have a certain background’ or ‘Oh, I only have these grades’ so ‘I can’t come or go there’ but that’s just not true.”

“I was supposed to be a secondary school teacher,” she further shared. “That was my background, that was my training. But I looked for other opportunities and got my current job at Baker Hughes after coming to a previous Energy Week Exhibition, where I met incredible individuals open to my beliefs and my will to go out and try new things.

“There are a lot of those kinds of people here at Energy Week, so people should not hold themselves back or miss out.”

Energy Week 2014 continues today and will be ongoing until Saturday, March 29. It is open daily from 9am to 6pm except on Friday, for which it opens from 9am to 11.30am and then from 2.30pm to 6pm. - Borneo Bulletin (25 March 2014)