Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam (BIBD), through its corporate social responsibility initiative Community for Brunei, was recently given the opportunity to showcase its social impact programmes and initiatives, especially those which support women-led businesses and causes, to His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam at an event marking the launch of the Brunei Energy Hub at Dermaga Diraja in the capital.
BIBD Chief Marketing Officer Hajah Nurul Akmar binti Haji Mohd Jaafar said, “Community for Brunei has also been a supporter of women’s empowerment, and we are proud of the role that Community for Brunei has played in highlighting issues such as women’s empowerment and sustainability. We frequently work with female-led NGOs and female vendors in our virtual marketplace – 10 out of the 51 NGOs we collaborate with are led by women, with raised donations of over BND63,000, and the Top 10 vendors in our virtual marketplace have collectively achieved sales of close to BND120,000.
“Community for Brunei was born out of a need to support micro and small enterprises during the pandemic. Alhamdulillah, since then, we have been able to grow and extend our platform to bring people together and work together toward supporting social causes and amplifying the voices of the underprivileged and vulnerable groups,” she added.
On sustainability, in line with the BIBD Group’s Sustainability Framework, Community for Brunei has been educating, raising awareness and fostering dialogues on sustainability.
Through the Sustainable Nation Campaign, for example, Community for Brunei organised virtual Eco-Chats, bringing together youth leaders and experts to discuss issues ranging from the circular economy, fast fashion and sustainable food consumption.
Community for Brunei also actively supports the Green Protocol’s Tree Planting Strategy under the Brunei Darussalam National Climate Change Policy, organising tree-planting activities alongside BIBD and local NGOs such as the Brunei Youth Council, Green Brunei, Growth.BN; government agencies such as Brunei Climate Change Secretariat and the Department of Environment, Parks and Recreation (JASTRe) as well as corporate partners such as Progresif Sdn Bhd and CIC Environmental Services Sdn Bhd.
Most recently, Community for Brunei played an active role in the Eco-Festival, organised as part of activities under Climate Action Week of the Brunei Mid-Year Conference and Exhibition 2022 (Brunei MYCE 2022).
On digitisation, Community for Brunei operates a virtual marketplace for local micro and small enterprises. Vendors on the Community for Brunei marketplace receive orders through a secured digital payment gateway, an alternative that will support the Smart Nation goal by 2025. Among the vendors are entrepreneurs from underprivileged segments such as BIBD SEED vendors and members of the Muallafpreneurs Consortium under the Islamic Da’wah Centre.
Community for Brunei was also one of the first platforms to feature local rice Sembada 188 for online purchase. This is part of BIBD’s commitment to support the country’s Smart Nation agenda by encouraging a digital, cashless economy.
On social inclusion, Community for Brunei works with local NGOs and government agencies to support the underprivileged segments of society. During the pandemic, Community for Brunei worked with NGOs such as the Brunei Opthalmology Society, FERA Health and Nursing Care and The Impian Project to raise funds and extend help to those in need. To date, Community for Brunei has raised more than BND63,000 for those in need, and hope to continue to champion the platform as the alternative for fund-raising and crowd-funding.
Community for Brunei has also been a long-time supporter of the Society for Community Outreach and Training (SCOT) through social projects, and worked with other social enterprises such as Brunei Council and Social Welfare, Infaq project and Brunei Detox Bar’s Community Pantry.
Community for Brunei is part of BIBD’s contribution to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), specifically SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities).
