Having adopted the Consolidated Strategy on the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) at the 38th ASEAN Summit in October last year, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) organised a socialisation webinar for the strategy themed "Embracing the 4IR: Outlook, Strategies, and Plans for ASEAN."

The strategy, as revealed at the webinar, was built upon the existing 73 4IR-related initiatives undertaken by ASEAN so far, which is likely to increase in number in the coming years.

Advanced technology provider Huawei again expressed its commitment to support ASEAN 4IR agenda.

The webinar was attended by Satvinder Singh, deputy secretary-general of the ASEAN Economic Community, and Australian Ambassador to ASEAN Will Nankervis.

"Although ASEAN, in general, has recorded a fantastic growth rate, there are still many aspects that need to be improved," said Satvinder. "One of them is artificial intelligence (AI) investment, which is still far below compared to AI investments made in countries such as the US and China ($2 per capita in ASEAN as opposed to $155 and $21 per capita between 2015 and 2019 for the US and China respectively)."

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He also mentioned that a holistic approach allows the 4IR to not only be used as an engine for the region's economic growth and competitiveness but also to promote inclusivity and sustainability.

Diverse ASEAN stakeholders, such as Dicky Edwin Hindarto, advisor for Indonesia Joint Crediting Mechanism; Sharlini Eriza Putri, co-founder and CEO of Nusantics; Amarti Charoephan, ASEAN director for Techstars Thailand/Impact Collective; Dr Le Hoang Dung, the chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Teacher Education Network; and David Lu, president of Strategy Marketing Department at Huawei Asia Pacific, were also present.

Sharlini said: "Startup companies have a much faster pace, as well as the ability to disrupt conventional methods. ASEAN youth must take part in narrating the 4IR, especially around critical issues such as health and environment. So, homegrown startups in ASEAN must be fully supported."

David said, "Huawei wants to add to our collaboration footprint in the region to create an interconnected ASEAN and bridge the digital divide. We will work closely with the ASEAN Economic Community to provide the technology, infrastructure, and digital talent it needs."

"Together, we will bring benefits such as reliability, lower latency, more effective and efficient production, and digital transformation to every industry."