wiredInUSA December 2017

ASEAN development forum

Promoting industrialization

Huawei and Huawei Marine hosted October’s 3 rd Asia Pacific Submarine Networks Forum in Hangzhou. Themed “Developing ICT hubs: make submarine cables a strategic asset”, the forum discussed the submarine cable industry’s role as a key facilitator of Asia-Pacific ICT development. The forum was attended by over 200 delegates, including Chinese and ASEAN government regulators, submarine telecom operators, the investment community, solutions providers and industry analysts. “Infrastructure is the key bottleneck for developing countries,” said Shi Yulong, principal of the Institute of Spatial Planning and Regional Economy, National Development and Reform Commission of China. “Infrastructure interconnection is an important part of the construction for the ‘one belt, one road’ program, and ICT infrastructure is taking the lead in building it.” Throughpresentationsandpanel discussions the forum addressed the challenges and opportunities facing the Asia Pacific region, and how to facilitate growth in the digital economy of the region.

The Nigeria Industrial Policy and Competitiveness Advisory Council, established in March 2017 under the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, has begun initiatives to accelerate industrialization by installing 18,000km of fiber optic cable throughout the country. The installation of fiber lines to promote the digital economy was one of several initiatives identified by the industrial council and agreed for implementation. The council also sought to begin strategic power projects to deliver another 4,200MW of electricity into the national grid. The industrial council has set up five sub- committees, of both public and private sector leaders and members of the council, with five focus areas identified as necessary to fulfil, council objectives. The focus areas are critical infrastructure, skills and capacity, trade and market access, policy and regulation, and financing.

wiredInUSA - December 2017

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