Participants in the webinar entitled “Accelerate Digital
Economy for Inclusive Integration in Asia Pacific – Connecting Digital Industries in
Pandemic” called for leveraging digital opportunities to build an inclusive ecosystem
and promoting regional integration, which is particularly important while still
combating the pandemic.
A digital economy is increasingly perceived as the way to overcome disruptions
caused by COVID-19. Representatives and thought leaders from governmental,
industrial and academic sectors across Asia Pacific joined a virtual conversation
organized by Huawei to explore the multiple facets of digital economy, from a
market, technology, inclusiveness and sustainability perspective.
The digital economy has powered a growing proportion of regional GDP and boosted resilience amid the pandemic.
ASEAN predicts the digital economy will contribute 1 trillion US dollars to regional GDP by year.
Countries from the region have released future-oriented roadmaps on removing
trade barriers, improving digital coverage and ensuring ubiquitous access to digital
services to facilitate the implementation of the digital economy.
Being part of the ecosystem, Huawei is committed to enabling ASEAN’s Digital
Masterplan 2025 in three key areas, namely ICT connectivity, talent empowerment
and ecosystem incubation, according to Jay Chen, Vice President at Huawei Asia Pacific.
The digital economy unfolding in the region addresses inclusive access to
digital service, a landscape facilitating startup scale-up, and a circular, sustainable
economy
Dr. Alvin P. Ang from Ateneo de Manila University agreed with the openly accessible
approach on upskilling public with digital knowledge. “The education system must
put in context at the foundational elements of digitalization. Whether it’s in the basic
education level or in the middle level or those who are working already, trying to
learn and upgrade themselves. We have to invest in them and give our rural areas
an opportunity to catch up by at least providing them with the basic skills to get
through the technology highway,” he said.
Huawei has long recognized the critical importance of providing everyone digital skills
and leave no one behind as economies digitalize. Over the years, Huawei has
launched multiple programs to train over 100,000 people with ICT empowerments in
the region in cooperation with governments, universities, and NGOs. In the
Philippines, during the past 4 years, more than 50 Philippine universities joined
Huawei ICT Academy, over 6000 students benefited from the ICT training offered by
Huawei.
Conveying the business perspective, Professor Jose Decolongon, COO & Managing
Director of Corporate Foresight, Embiggen Consulting Philippines said “Micro, small,
medium enterprises need to have understanding on digitalization to perceive the
opportunities when it comes to exploring the digital side of the business. Challenges
are faced by these enterprises but also the large organizations. It’s related to coverage and speed of digital infrastructure. This is where telecom players such as
Huawei and our local players can play an important role.”
For a sustainable digital economic ecosystem, new technologies such as 5G, Internet
of Things and Cloud provide great promise in terms of enhancing de-carbonization
and the circular economy. In the Philippines, Huawei has increased investment in
sustainable green solutions, leveraging clean power generation, electric
transportation, and smart energy storage.
“The next five years could see the ASEAN region make giant strides towards
becoming a digital society, and the transformation will enable member states to
recover faster from the pandemic. Huawei, together with ASEAN partners, is
committed to enabling the ASEAN Digital Master Plan 2025 and create new value for
the leading digital community and economic bloc,” said Jay.
Recent Comments