OUTSTRETCHED HANDS Firdaus Rahman has been long dedicated to promoting people-to-people exchange and cooperation between China and ASEAN countries

Firdaus Rahman clearly remembers his early 1990s visit to Guangzhou for the prestigious China Import and Export Fair(Canton Fair).As a business representative from the Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Bandar Seri Begawan(CCC BSB)attending arguably the only channel of international trade for Chinese enterprises back then,Rahman marveled at the kinetic and rapid economic and social development of Guangzhou,capital of southern China’s Guangdong Province,even though it still lagged behind Brunei.“In those days,ATMs were still like space-age gadget in China,”he recalls.“Many people were awed by the ATM we exhibited.”