Ali Apong


Ali bin 'Haji Apong' is a Bruneian politician who serves as the Deputy Minister of Development |of Development] and for the Prime Minister's Office from 2010 until 2015. He later became the Minister of Primary Resources and Tourism from 2015 until 2022.

Early life and education

Ali Apong is born on 18 August 1958, in Kampong Kuala Abang, Tutong. He graduated from University of Reading with honours degree in Economics and later earned both his postgraduate diploma in Management and Master of Business Administration from the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine.

Early career

He first began his career as an Investment Officer in the Brunei Investment Agency in 1983, followed by a later appointment to an Assistant Managing Director on 1 September 1997. From 1999 until early 2002, he was part of a Ministry of Finance and Economy team to establish the Brunei International Financial Centre, before returning to his previous position in the BIA. In 2004, Ali Apong was appointed as a Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance and Economy on October 21, 2004, and later transferred to the Prime Minister's Office with the same position on 24 September 2009. On 18 November 2010, he was appointed as the chairman of the Brunei Economic Development Board.

Ministerial career

Ali was appointed deputy minister of development in the 2010 Bruneian cabinet reshuffle on 29 May. Later that year, on 18 November, he was reappointed deputy minister in the PMO, until another cabinet reshuffle on 22 October 2015, where it was then announced that he had been reappointed as the first minister for the newly established Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism.
Ali Apong had previously stated that sophisticated aquaculture technology employed by international businesses might increase output and encourage self-sufficiency earlier in March 2019. In the previous six years, the aquaculture industry in Brunei has reported a 440 percent rise in output, going from in 2011 to 1,632 tonnes in 2017.
Ali retained his position in the 2018 Bruneian cabinet reshuffle, which replaced six ministers.
By maximising the 1,000 hectares that are currently being actively farmed in Brunei, self-sufficiency can rise to 10% in 2020, according to him. Nine rice fields in Brunei-Muara are supplied with water by the Imang Dam, which has been upgraded and expanded in capacity.
Officials in Bandar Seri Begawan began by halting the coronavirus's spread to the sultanate during the COVID-19 outbreak in Brunei. In January 2020, the Ministry [of Education |ministers of education] and health of Brunei, Hamzah Sulaiman, Isham Jaafar, and Ali Apong, minister of primary resources and tourism, held a news conference to announce Travel restrictions related to the 2019-20 [coronavirus outbreak|travel restrictions] from China, namely the epicenter of Hubei Province.
In order to better understand the natural ecosystem of Brunei's forests, Ali Apong has urged for ongoing scientific study. The Brunei Darussalam Conference On Forest: Forests And Biodiversity: Unveiling Its Economic Potential, held in connection with the Brunei Mid-Year Conference and Exhibition 2021, included him as the keynote speaker yesterday. He said:
The cabinet reshuffled again on 7 June 2022, his position as the Minister was succeeded by Abdul Manaf Metussin.

Honours

Ali has earned the following honours: