New Delhi, 8^th December 2005 – The 3-day Microsoft Government Leaders Forum concluded today with a keynote presentation by Bill Gates, Chairman and Chief Software Architect, Microsoft Corporation. Brunei Darussalam was among the 15 country representation from the Asia Pacific region who had the privilege to hear and discuss among others, IT development issues hands on from the personal views of Bill Gates and Microsoft’s perspectives.

Themed ‘Leading in a Connected World’, the forum discussed a wide range of issues presented in three dynamic discussion forum tracks on Knowledge Economy, Governance and Education. The Brunei delegation participated in discussion topics that covered, among others; public policy and institutional leadership considerations, finding options in creating a framework for economic development, the importance of interoperability in realising e-government, addressing universal access and affordability to ICT for growth, discussion on enhancing network security, educational perspectives on lifelong learning and an outlook on the ‘school of the future’.

As Brunei Darussalam’s head of delegation, Dato Paduka Haji Yusoff had the opportunity to have talks with Bill Gates and other Senior Microsoft Executives after the forum. In brief, the talks catered an opportunity for further cooperation and collaboration between Microsoft and Brunei Darussalam, particularly in the areas of ICT human resources development and Software Development in the very near future.

The Microsoft Government Leaders Forum saw a gathering of prominent leaders and names in IT from the Asia Pacific region. Gaining the insights of this forum, Dato Paduka Haji Yusoff expressed his hopes to see future cooperation between Microsoft and Brunei Darussalam through a memorandum of understanding soon. The cooperation intends to cover ICT focus areas among others, ICT human capacity building, Software content development and innovation programs. Dato Paduka Haji Yusoff further hoped for Microsoft to eventually making their presence in Brunei Darussalam in the future.