Speaking at the AEC Business Forum 2019 recently in Bangkok, James Wu, Huawei Southeast Asia President, called for joint efforts across countries and industries to speed up digitalization in ASEAN, and seize the opportunities offered by 5G, Cloud and AI.

“2020 of ASEAN will mark an important milestone in the ICT history, as it will be the year that marks the start of 5G's large-scale commercial use. It is the beginning of the intelligent era, driven by ASEAN’s innovative younger population,” said Wu during the “ASEAN CEO’s Vision 2020 & Beyond” panel discussion.

“If you look at the ICT Development Index in ASEAN, you can find the development is very uneven. Most of the ASEAN countries are still in the Startups stage. To make the digital vision a reality requires the joint efforts of governments, industries and the whole of society,” he said.

Wu suggested a long-term view for governments to create a more investment-friendly environment for carriers, increase investment in ICT infrastructure, introduce policies such as tax incentives to boost the digital economy, and provide better and affordable spectrum resources and pricing policies.

For industries, ICT technology in the future will not only be a support system, but also a production system and even a decision-making system, as it becomes an indispensable platform for enterprises to improve quality and efficiency, and ultimately assist financial diagnosis and brand strategy to improve the timeliness and accuracy of decision-making.

By 2025, all enterprise information technology solutions will be cloudified, and more than 85% of enterprise applications will be deployed on the cloud.

“5G+Cloud+AI are the key enabling technologies for digital transformation, and the engine to leapfrog. As we may not anticipate all the business needs in advance, we need to build an enabling infrastructure that is agile and responsive enough to accommodate the requirements and scale of future business in intelligent era,” he said.

Wu emphasized that with leading technologies such as 5G, Cloud and AI, Huawei is committed to be the enabler of digital ASEAN, by providing national digital strategy consultation, supporting digital transformation in various industries, cultivating digital workforce, and building prosperous industrial ecosystem.

In 2018, Huawei announced its $81 million Developer Enablement Plan in Southeast Asia to cultivate digital workforce, and built OpenLabs to enable startups and SMEs in the region. The tech company is also planning to establish a Huawei Academy based in Bangkok to train digital talents and further accelerate ASEAN digitalization.

“Globally, every economy and industry is rushing to embrace 5G, Cloud and AI to get an edge on the competition, and this investment is happening even faster than we expected,” said James Wu. “We need to embrace the new age, in order to make the vision a reality.”

Photo Caption - Third from right Huawei Southeast Asia President James Wu, at the AEC Business Forum 2019 entitled ‘2020 The Age of ASEAN Connectivity’