Huawel announces 81 mln USD investment in Southeast Asia’s digital ecosystem
BANGKOK, June 6 (NsNewsWire) — The fourth Huawei Asia-Pacific Innovation Day was held in Bangkok today. Co-hosted by Huawei Technologies and the Thai Ministry of Science and Technology, the theme of this year’s event is “Innovate for a Digital Asia-Pacific”. Nearly 300 attendees from governments, industry, and academia gathered together to discuss the future of the digital economy, to explore how digital infrastructure enriches life, accelerates new businesses, drives innovation and builds an ecosystem of shared success.
At the event, Dr. Somkid Jatusripitak, Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand, delivered a keynote speech, in which he delved into Thailand’s strategy of “going digital” and how it is driving the transformation and modernization of the Thai economy. Dr. Somkid Jatusripitak reaffirmed the Thai government’s commitment to create a favorable environment for digital innovation, stressing Huawei’s role as an important contributor to the development of Thailand’s ICT industry. He said that he would like to see more in-depth collaboration between Thailand and Huawei.
Mr. Guo Ping, Rotating Chairman of Huawei, highlighting the importance of digital ecosystem, said, “Many economies in the Asia-Pacific region have set out on their digital transformation journey. But growth has been uneven. The gap between developed and developing economies is widening, and we see the emergence of a Matthew effect where digitally advanced economies produce greater returns on their infrastructure than less-developed economies. However, we can work together to get ahead of this trend.”
At today’s event, Thailand’s National Science and Technology Development Agency and National Innovation Agency signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Huawei Technologies (Thailand). The MoU outlines a series of joint research and innovation objectives.
Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister, Dr. Somkid Jatusripitak, and Huawei Rotating Chairman, Mr. Guo Ping, witnessed the signing of this strategic MoU together.
This year’s event gathered top government officials in the region, including Dr. Suvit Maesincee, Minister of Science and Technology of Thailand; Mr. Mustafa Jabbar, Minister of Posts, Telecommunications & Information Technology of Bangladesh; Mr. Bounsaleumsay Khennavong, Vice Minister of Posts and Telecommunications of Laos; and Dr. Kan Channmeta, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunication of Cambodia. At an off-the-record roundtable following the event, they gathered to discuss the role of government in digital transformation and share best practices.
James Wu, President of Huawei’s Southeast Asia Region, took this opportunity to unveil Huawei’s Developer Enablement Plan for the region. The enablement plan aims to support digital economy and ecosystem building in the region.
Over the next three years, Huawei will invest US$81 million in building OpenLabs, enabling cloud developers, and cultivating ICT talent in the Southeast Asia region. “In particular,” said Wu, “Huawei aims to empower developers and young talent in Southeast Asia. We have over 30 years of ICT capabilities and experience. Through APIs and development platforms, we will open up our capabilities to our dev partners in the region. It’s a huge opportunity for developers to create targeted solutions for industry digitization and grow their own businesses.”
Wu also announced the 2018 Huawei Developer Challenge, which will officially go live on June 11. Huawei will hold a special competition in Southeast Asia to provide guidance to local developers. In addition, Huawei will sponsor developers who innovate on Huawei Cloud, and will present an award up to US$150,000 to developers who meet established requirements.
Huawei together with the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) launched their collaborative research regarding the impact and power that information and communication technologies (ICT) have on the economy and society, at the fourth Huawei Asia-Pacific Innovation Day on June 6 in Bangkok.
Many speakers joined the event to share their ideas on building out the digital ecosystem. Specifically, they talked about policy and regulation, digital transformation of industries, AI unicorns, and how ICT will enable the development of future generations.
Press Release