Singapore (FN) May 19 — The Huawei APAC Digital Innovation Congress, jointly held by Huawei and the ASEAN Foundation, began today, gathering over 1,500 government officials, experts, researchers, partners, and analysts from more than 10 countries in the Asia-Pacific region to explore the future of digital innovation and the digital economy. Topics included ongoing advancements in ICT, speeding up digital transformation across industries, as well as green and low-carbon development.
"The Asia-Pacific region is one of the most culturally and economically vibrant regions in the world," said Ken Hu, Huawei's Rotating Chairman, during his opening speech. "It has long played an important role in global economic growth, and now plays an equally important role in digital innovation," he continued, citing the fact that many APAC countries have elevated digital transformation to a strategic policy level and are actively going green.
Ken Hu, Huawei's Rotating Chairman, speaking at Huawei APAC Digital Innovation Congress 2022
"Huawei has deep roots in APAC. We have been serving our customers here for over 30 years, and we are proud to support digital development in the region. Moving forward, we will keep investing heavily in innovation to help our partners in the region meet their strategic development goals. In 2022, we will increase our support for a Green and Digital APAC by promoting digital infrastructure, low-carbon development, and digital inclusion."
Yang Mee Eng, Executive Director of the ASEAN Foundation, also spoke at the event. "Only a strong digital talent team can achieve an inclusive and resilient digital Asia-Pacific region," she said. "The Huawei APAC Digital Innovation Congress 2022 marks another critical milestone in the ASEAN Foundation-Huawei partnership to continue creating a talent development-focused learning ecosystem that will help address the digital skills shortage in the region."
Strategies for promoting digital innovation and the digital economy in the region
Satvinder Singh, Deputy Secretary-General for ASEAN Economic Community, outlined progress towards the ASEAN Digital Masterplan 2025. He shared his views about how the pandemic has accelerated the pace of digital transformation. "In ASEAN, since the COVID-19 pandemic started, 60 million new digital consumers have been added, making ASEAN the third largest internet base with nearly 400 million internet users. ASEAN digital revenue is expected to hit US$363 billion by 2025." He pointed out, "Digital transformation requires stronger coordinated actions from multiple stakeholders, including the private sector to realize the full potential of digital transformations in ASEAN."
Ajarin Pattanapanchai, Permanent Secretary of Thailand's Ministry of Digital Economy and Society, remarked that Thailand fully supports the implementation of the ASEAN Digital Masterplan 2025, which is a strategic approach that places top priority on post-COVID-19 economic resilience, maximizes the potential of ICT and digital technologies for equal access to public and private services, and mobilizes ASEAN's digital economy.
Dr. H. Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno, BBA, MBA, Indonesia's Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, spoke about how innovation has helped shape a Digital Indonesia. "Frontier technologies can become engines for recovery and revival. Customized, personalized, and localized Cleanliness, Health, and Safety & Environment Sustainability Protocols are likely to become essential for tourism and creative industries to pivot." He went on to say, "As we look for novel solutions and technical breakthroughs to drive transformation across industries in Indonesia, we've just signed a strategic milestone with Huawei to scale up Indonesian digital talent and power up local startups, paving the way for optimum use of technologies as a springboard for industries to recover together and recover stronger."
Dato' Sri Dr.
At the Cloud session, Huawei unveiled new products and solutions like GaussDB – a new cloud storage database – and DevCloud – a one-stop DevOps shop for more efficient software development.
