ASEAN Foundation Joins Hands with Huawei to Bridge Digital Talent Gap in Asia Pacific
November 04, 2021The ASEAN Foundation and Huawei signed MoU on joint efforts to bridge
the digital talent gap at the Asia Pacific Innovation Day – Digital Talent Summit 2021 on
Wednesday. The online summit brought together policy makers, researchers and industry
experts to share solutions and best practices in building a sustainable ecosystem that will help
foster digital talents in the Asia Pacific.
The event started strongly with a series of keynote speeches from governments’ leaders such
as Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for ASEAN Political Security Community H.E. Robert
Matheus Michael Tene, Chair of the ASEAN Digital Senior Official Meeting H.E. Dato’ Sri
Mohammad Mentek, the Philippine Ambassador to China H.E. Jose Santiago L. Sta.
Romana. Their speeches stressed on the importance of key stakeholders’ proactive
participation in developing a solid foundation for digital talent ecosystem in the region.
"The Digital Talent Summit 2021, which aims to discuss and address the needs of ASEAN ICT
youth talent, is obviously very relevant, especially in the midst of the global pandemic which
forced us to significantly rely more on digital platform. This auspicious event is very much
aligned with the ASEAN Digital Masterplan 2025 objective of improving people's capability to
participate in the digital society economy," said the Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN
for ASEAN Political Security Community H.E. Robert Matheus Michael Tene.
The Philippine Ambassador to China H.E. Jose Santiago L. Sta. Romana also gave his
remarks, “Today’s program is vital in the achievement of nurturing the young talent who would
be at the forefront of future developments in the digital world. The Philippines has engaged
major technology companies in the region to actively speed up the adoption of several digital
technologies in extending services to the public and to immerse the population, particularly
young Filipinos in the digital realm, to improve their familiarity and raise broad-based skills in
the use of modern and up-to-date digital technologies. For instance, in improving the
Philippines’ telecommunications industry and infrastructure, Chinese technology and
telecommunications companies such as Huawei have entered into joint venture arrangements
and other forms of collaborations with domestic firms.”
“Innovation and development rely on a talent ecosystem. Huawei is prepared to work with its
partners to build a talent development ecosystem conducive to innovation,” Huawei Senior
Vice President and Board Member Catherine Chen noted during her opening remarks,
“Huawei's 20 years in Asia Pacific have been a journey to find like-minded friends. Let's work
together to build an inclusive, innovative, and vibrant ecosystem, attract and cultivate more
digital talent, and jointly promote the development and prosperity of the region.”
“Cultivating innovative ICT talent ecosystem is fundamental to the digital transformation.
Leveraging shared innovations with win-win outcomes, we can harness the power of ICT skills
to
fly us into a digital future. Together with our partners, Huawei will invest $50 million in the next
5 years to develop 500,000 digital talents in the Asia Pacific region,” President of Huawei
Asia Pacific Jeffery Liu announced in his keynote speech.
The commitment to bridge digital talent gap in Asia Pacific, in
particular ASEAN, was further strengthened with the signing ceremony of Memorandum of
Understanding between ASEAN
Foundation and Huawei ASEAN Academy. The agreement highlights both entities’ readiness to
implement ASEAN Seeds for the Future, which is a scaled-up version of Seeds for the Future,
Huawei’s global CSR flagship initiative that has been providing world class digital skills training
for young people across the globe since 2008. Through ASEAN Seeds for the Future, ASEAN
Foundation and Huawei ASEAN Academy strive to build the digital capacities of youth in the ten
ASEAN Member States so that they can thrive in the era of digital economy.
The ceremony was attended by Executive Director of ASEAN Foundation Dr. Yang Mee Eng and
Vice President of Huawei Indonesia Albert Yang, and witnessed by Deputy Permanent
Representative of the Philippines to ASEAN Elizabeth Te, Permanent Representative of
the Kingdom of Cambodia to ASEAN H.E. Amb. Yeap Samnang, Deputy Secretary-General of
ASEAN for ASEAN Political Security Community H.E. Robert Matheus Michael Tene, Deputy
Permanent Representative of Republic of Singapore to ASEAN Tham Borg Tsien, and Huawei
Asia Pacific Vice President Jay Chen.
The ASEAN Seeds for the Future will help contribute to achieving the objectives of ASEAN
Digital Masterplan 2025, which are to increase the capacity of youth in the region to participate
in the digital economy and to create a digitally inclusive society in ASEAN. The ASEAN Seeds for
the Future is set to launch in early 2022, inviting youth aged 15 – 30 in ASEAN to immerse
themselves in a virtual journey of capacity building on leadership and digital skills. In the
Philippines, Seeds for the Future already covered 110 students over the past six years, in this
year 2021, the project will cover another more 100 students.
“We are delighted to sign the memorandum of understanding with Huawei to implement ASEAN
Seeds for the Future. It is my belief that this wonderful regional programme will play an
important part in bridging digital talent gap in the region by equipping our ASEAN youth with
essential skills that will enable them to thrive in the era of digital economy. Our partnership with
Huawei also signifies another important milestone for ASEAN in regards to bringing in
committed partners from private sector to contribute to youth development effort in ASEAN,”
said Executive Director of ASEAN Foundation Dr. Yang Mee Eng.
0 Comments