Ali bin Apong (born 19 October 1958) is a Bruneian politician who serves as the Deputy Minister of Development and for the Prime Minister's Office from 2010 until 2015. He later became the Minister of Primary Resources and Tourism (MPRT) 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 The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...

with

honours degree Honours degree has various meanings in the context of different degrees and education systems. Most commonly it refers to a variant of the undergraduate bachelor's degree containing a larger volume of material or a higher standard of study, or ...

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

and later earned both his

postgraduate diploma A postgraduate diploma (PgD, PgDip, PGDip, PG Dip., PGD, Dipl. PG, PDE) is a postgraduate qualification awarded after a university degree, which supplements the original degree and awards them with a graduate diploma. Countries that award postg ...

Management Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

and

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

from the

Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

Early career

He first began his career as an Investment Officer in the

Brunei Investment Agency The Brunei Investment Agency (BIA) is a government-owned corporation that reports to the Ministry of Finance of the Government of Brunei. Established in 1983, its offices are located in Bandar Seri Begawan at the Ministry of Finance HQ. Data o ...

(BIA) 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 A permanent secretary (also known as a principal secretary) is the most senior Civil Service (United Kingdom), civil servant of a department or Ministry (government department), ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day ...

in the Ministry of Finance and Economy on October 21, 2004, and later transferred to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) with the same position on 24 September 2009.

Ministerial career

Ali Apong later held the position of a Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Development on 20 May 2010. On 18 November 2010, he became the Deputy Minister in the PMO, until the reshuffling of the council 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. Dato Ali Apong had previously stated that sophisticated

aquaculture Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. lot ...

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 ($3 million) in 2011 to 1,632 tonnes ($17 million) in 2017. By maximizing 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 A paddy field is a flooded field of arable land used for growing semiaquatic crops, most notably rice and taro. It originates from the Neolithic rice-farming cultures of the Yangtze River basin in southern China, associated with pre-Aust ...

Brunei-Muara Brunei-Muara District ( ms, Daerah Brunei dan Muara; Jawi: برونائی-موارا ضلع) or simply Brunei-Muara is one of the four districts of Brunei. It has the smallest area among the four districts, with , yet is the most populous, wi ...

are supplied with water by the Imang Dam, which has been upgraded and expanded in capacity.

Officials An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority, (either their own or that of their ...

Bandar Seri Begawan Bandar Seri Begawan (BSB; Jawi: بندر سري بڬاوان; ) is the capital city of Brunei. It is officially a municipal area () with an area of and an estimated population of 100,700 as of 2007. It is part of Brunei-Muara District, the sm ...

began by halting the

coronavirus Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the com ...

's spread to the sultanate during the COVID-19 outbreak in Brunei. In January 2020, the ministers of education and

health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...

of Brunei, Hamzah Sulaiman,

Isham Jaafar Isham bin Jaafar is a Bruneian physician who currently serves as the current Minister of Health since 2017. Biography Education Isham graduated from University of Dundee with a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery degree in 1995 an ...

, and Ali Apong, minister of primary resources and tourism, held a news conference to announce travel restrictions from

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, namely the epicenter of

Hubei Province Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The prov ...

. In order to better understand the natural ecosystem of Brunei's forests, Dato Ali Apong has urged for ongoing

scientific study Scientific study is a kind of study that involves scientific theory, scientific models, experiments and physical situations. It may refer to: *Scientific method, a body of techniques for investigating phenomena, based on empirical or measurabl ...

. The Brunei Darussalam Conference On Forest: Forests And Biodiversity: Unveiling Its Economic Potential, held in connection with the Brunei Mid-Year Conference and Exhibition (MYCE) 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.

Awards and honours

Order of Seri Paduka Mahkota Brunei The Most Honourable Order of Seri Paduka Mahkota Brunei ( ms, Darjah Seri Paduka Mahkota Brunei Yang Amat Mulia), also translated as The Most Honourable Order of the Crown of Brunei, is an order of Brunei Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei D ...

Second Class (DPMB) – ''Dato Paduka'' * BRU Order of Loyalty to the State of Brunei

Order of Setia Negara Brunei The Most Blessed Order of Setia Negara Brunei ( ms, Darjah Setia Negara Brunei Yang Amat Bahagia), also translated as The Most Blessed Order of Loyalty to the State of Brunei, is an order of Brunei. It was established on 29 November 1959 by Sultan ...

First Class (PSNB) – ''Dato Seri Setia''

References

External links