The small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) share of private sector employment in Brunei is high than the US at 59 per cent, Singapore and Canada at 41.5 per cent, 43.1 per cent and 49.5 per cent respectively. However it has a similar profile to the likes of Hong Kong (59.6 per cent) and New Zealand (60 per cent).
This statistic was highlighted in the latest edition of the quarterly Economic Bulletin, published by the Department of Economic Planning and Development. However, in terms of the number of persons per SME (entrepreneur density ratio), Brunei does not score well at 50.6 per cent, which in the language of entrepreneurship means only one person in every 51 in Brunei is an entrepreneur. Most developed countries have an average of 20 persons per SME.
To achieve this level at today's population, Brunei would need a total of 16,684 SMEs, an increase of 154 per cent of the current number.
