ASIA AT A GLANCE Chinese semiconductor equipment manufacturer Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment (AMMEC) is challenging its inclusion on a US blacklist over alleged ties to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), according to numerous reports.
AMEC was added to the Section 1260H list, which links companies to the Chinese military. The Pentagon cited an award from China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology as the reason for the listing, according to a lawsuit filed by the company.
AMEC supplies equipment to major chipmakers such as SMIC and TSMC. In its lawsuit, the company argued that its leadership was rooted in the United States because its founder, Gerald Yin, was a U.S. citizen, even held a doctorate from UCLA and had previous professional experience at Intel and Applied Materials.
This lawsuit is part of a broader trend of Chinese companies seeking to overturn U.S.-maintained blacklists of Chinese companies believed to support the PLA.
The Financial Times reported last week that the Pentagon had decided to remove the world’s largest laser sensor maker, Hesai, from the blacklist of companies supporting the PLA because it did not meet the legal criteria for inclusion.
Like AMEC, Hesai is based in Shanghai.
Hesai told The Reg There has been no official announcement or confirmation from the Ministry of Defense on this matter.
“Hesai has consistently stressed that our inclusion in the 1260H list was a mistake. Our products are intended for commercial and civilian use only and we have no affiliation with the Chinese military or other military organizations. Nor are we a supplier to military organizations in any country,” a spokesperson added.
Microsoft signs major contract for Indian primary schools
Microsoft was able to sign a contract with 200 IT training colleges (ITIs) across India, ensuring that the next generation of IT workers receive Copilot and other product skills.
According to India’s Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Microsoft’s SkillSaksham program will now cover 200 ITIs and aims to train over 10,000 candidates. In addition, the AI Programming Assistant course will be introduced at 15 National Skill Training Institutes (NSTIs) from the academic year 2024-25.
This number amounts to 8,500 students who were trained under the program last semester.
“Thousands of young people are already benefiting from our AI-focused skills programs, as well as cybersecurity and digital productivity. Now we are focused on extending that impact to vocational training in India,” said Puneet Chandok, President, Microsoft India and South Asia.
“By joining forces with industry partners, we will enhance our training programs and expand reach to over 200 ITIs and 15 NSTIs, helping India move its innovation journey from ‘incredible opportunity’ to ‘credible impact’,” he added.
Vietnam will include its citizens’ bank account and education data in its national ID app this year
Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh ordered an expansion of the country’s digital identification app, VNeID, to include bank accounts, educational background and driver’s license data.
The government app, which is intended to replace traditional documents in online government processes, will hopefully contain the new information by the end of the year.
The Prime Minister has called on the government to speed up the digitization of administrative procedures so that 80 percent of document processes in the public sector can be handled entirely online by the end of the year. The government hopes to have 20 million users during this period.
Most governments in the Asia-Pacific region believe that AI needs regulation, but less than a quarter have already introduced it.
Market research firm International Data Corp (IDC) announced last week that 86 percent of government agencies in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region believe AI laws and regulations are essential to progress – but only 22 percent have comprehensive AI governance policies in place.
The company also released a sovereign cloud market forecast that predicted 34.3 percent growth in 2024, driven by increasing investments in hybrid cloud strategies.
The market is expected to reach $36.7 billion by 2027, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 31.5 percent. Companies are increasingly turning to sovereign cloud solutions to meet digital sovereignty requirements – including data protection, security and regulatory compliance.
From Google engineer to e-commerce entrepreneur – now richest man in China
Colin Huang, 44, is China’s richest man, with his net worth peaking at 512 billion yen ($71.5 billion) in 2021, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The former Google engineer is the founder of the Chinese e-commerce platform Pinduoduo and its international version and subsidiary Temu.
Singtel profit rises 43 percent after asset sale
Singapore telecommunications operator Singtel announced (PDF) that its first-quarter net profit rose 43 percent year-on-year to 690 million Singapore dollars (523 million US dollars).
The increase coincides with a reduction in the telco’s stake in Indian telecom company Bharti Airtel and the divestment of some telecom towers owned by Philippine telecom company Globe Telecom. Singtel owns a 47 percent stake in Globe Telecom.
APAC Dealbook
Current alliances and deals discovered by The Register Cases reported across the region in the last week include:
- Malaysian telecommunications service provider Maxis, in partnership with Singtel, has launched Malaysia’s first all-in-one platform for 5G, edge computing and cloud services, based on Singtel’s Paragon.
“Our collaboration addresses customer needs by providing a unified 5G platform that simplifies orchestration across network and cloud environments. The platform enables enterprises greater access, speed and flexibility to seamlessly deploy and manage 5G and cloud computing solutions,” said Goh Seow Eng, CEO of Maxis.
- The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), four banks, local telecommunications provider SPTel and quantum technology company SpeQtral have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to explore the possibility of using Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) to improve cybersecurity in financial services.
The goal of the collaboration is to evaluate the effectiveness of QKD in protecting cryptographic keys from quantum computing threats, validate its security features, and build technical expertise.
®
