Asia's Tech News, Weekly: January 11th 2025

China's 10G trials, Cambodia & EVs, crypto in Bhutan, India's data protection rules, Bangladesh semiconductors, satellite-driven surgery, Korean assistance robotics...

• China: Ministry of Industry & Info Tech calls for nationwide 10G optical trials this year as part of national 'new information infrastructure' strategy / full item

• Cambodia: Gov't commits to major shift to EVs, targeting 35% electric cars, 40% electric buses, and 70% electric motorcycles by 2050 / full item

• Australia: Telstra partners SpaceX’s Starlink for sat-to-mobile text messaging, particularly for connectivity in remote and regional areas / full item

• Singapore: An intro to Flint, producing a biodegradable paper battery claiming a comparable lifespan to conventional lithium-ion batteries / full item

• Indonesia: Bukalapak e-commerce major is to end sales of physical goods, instead selling virtual products like mobile credits and electricity tokens, in response to fierce competition / full item

• Indo-Pacific Insight, January 6th, 2025: Moscow-Pyongyang & Japan; Thailand, Cambodia & Koh Kood island; Taiwan, Guatemala & cybersec; India-France navy exercises; IISS Cyber Power Matrix / full item

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"China is effectively transforming the traditional product-centric automotive industry business into a services-centric Internet of Mobility business model." / full item

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• Japan: Toyota moves into space technology with $44M investment in Interstellar Technologies as it pursues mass production of launch rockets / full item

• China: Research institute floats possibility of high-end RISC-V processors for data centers in 2025, taking RISC-V to a new level of chip competition / full item

• A brief overview of the challenges facing Bangladesh as it tries to position to take advantage of semiconductor industry opportunities / full item

• India: Bharat Fintech Summit 2025 is set for February 5-6 in Mumbai / full item

• Taiwan: Executive Yuan approves 'Southern Silicon Valley' project to boost AI and semicon industries in Chiayi County, Tainan, Pingtung County, and Kaohsiung / full item

• South Korea's WIRobotics preps for the US launch of WIM, its 1.6kg, wearable, walking assistance robot / full item

• China completes world-first satellite-based remote surgeries, with operations conducted via Apstar-6D broadband satellite 36,000km above the planet / full item

Indian Tech Startup Funding Report 2024

• Singapore: Digital Edge data centers company raises more than $1.6BN, looking to expand in response to cloud computing and AI services demand growth across Asia / full item

• China: Big Fund 3, a $47BN state-backed fund, launched phase 3 with investments into 2 other funds focused on the country's semiconductor and advanced-tech industries / full item

• Pacific Islands nation of Nauru inaugurated the region's first Starlink Community Gateway / full item

• Taiwan: Government Service Network hit by an average of 2.4M cyber-attacks every day in 2024, double the 2023 total, according to a report by the National Security Bureau / full item

• Hong Kong: An interview intro to AI Guided, developing an AI-backed, haptic 'guiding belt' for the visually impaired, the Guidi / full item

• Japan: Google Waymo to roll out self-driving taxis in Tokyo early 2025, beating Japanese automakers and Tesla robotaxi to the largest non-China urban market for autonomous driving / full item

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"Japan’s communications ministry plans to position Japanese network equipment... as a viable alternative to Huawei Technologies’ products for data centres developed by American tech companies in Asia." / full item

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• Indian Space Research Org'n is planning 10 orbital launches in 2025, potentially taking launch activity to double figures for the first time; and a first crewed flight, H1, possibly in 2026 / full item

• Bangladesh Gov't has approved the National Semiconductor Taskforce 'to advance Bangladesh’s capabilities in testing, assembly, and chip design' / full item

• China: Chang Guang Satellite Technology Co reports satellite-to-ground laser transmission milestone of 100Gbps, for high-resolution imagery, a speed equivalent to 10 full movies in 1 second / full item

• India: Gov't publishes consultation draft of proposed Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, outlining compliance requirements and protections / full item

• Vietnam: Gov't issues decree providing support up to 50% of initial investment costs for businesses in semiconductor and AI R&D / full item

• Myanmar: Military junta enacts new cyber law targeting communications and providers of services such as virtual private networks / full item

• Vietnam: An overview of the potential for SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet services opportunity in the country / full item

• Thailand: AWS rolls out Thailand Cloud Region as part of $5BN investment, projected to contribute estimated $10BN to Thailand's GDP while supporting 11K jobs annually / full item

• South Korea's Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix secure promised funding for semiconductor plants in the US, tho uncertainty remains around possible Trump administration adjustments / full item

• China: Shijian-25 satellite launches to test on-orbit refuelling, and tech to extend satellite lifespans / full item

• India: More on the Indian Space Research Organisation Space Docking Experiment, SpaDeX, recently delivered to orbit for testing / full item

• Malaysia's iPrice e-commerce aggregator raised $10M, with sights on becoming the largest online shopping platform in SE Asia / full item

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"BYD surpassed its 2024 sales target of 4M EVs with just over 4.27M, up 41.3% vs 2023. The Chinese EV and battery giant is likely to overtake Honda and Ford in 2024 global sales..." / full item

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• Indonesia: Asian Development Bank and Climate Finance Partnership of Australia have each US$5M loan to PT TBS Energi Utama Tbk to boost e-motorcycle adoption / full item

• Bhutan's Gelephu city in the southern Himalayan foothills is to formally discuss holding Bitcoin, Ethereum and Binance Coin as strategic reserve assets / full item

• South Korea: Financial Services Commission and Virtual Asset Committee to discuss plan to allow companies to buy, sell and hold crypto-assets later in 2025 / full item

• PepsiCo opens applications for 3rd edition of Asia Pacific-focused Greenhouse Accelerator Program / full item

• 'What RISC-V Means for the Future of Chip Development' from CSIS / full item

• South Korea: Jeju Island plans tourism campaign, attracting younger visitors by issuing NFT-based visitors' cards / full item

• Vietnam: Estonia's Bolt ride-hail and food delivery startup preps for Ho Chi Minh City launch, building on Thailand and Malaysia presence / full item

• Taiwan Stock Exchange rolls out upgraded Innovation Board, opening the market to retail investors in bid to position TIB as Asia's premier startup and emerging industries platform / full item

• Australia: HEX edtech startup partners Toyota Community Trust for 'Highway to STEM', offering free career training to 1000 female and non-binary students across Australia / full item

• Taiwan's new Digital Nomad Visa, identifying the program's shortcomings, providing comparisons with other programs, and presenting opportunities / full item

• India: Accel VC firm launched its 8th fund, with $650M to back early-stage Indian startups in enterprise AI and service-as-software, capitalizing on India's IT services footprint / full item

• Australia: INTIX is selected for the Australian Open's AO StartUps program with its all-in-one sports ticketing management and solutions platform / full item

• Philippines: Kickstart Ventures VC to fund up to five startups this year, focusing on artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, adding to its 70-firm portfolio / full item

• A brief look at China's short video economy, and its likely responses to a possible drop in users and creators / full item

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"China's surging electric vehicle output has ignited demand for automotive chips, but domestic firms remain reliant on foreign suppliers for more than 90 per cent of their needs..." / full item

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• China: Gov't expands smartphone trade-in subsidy program, boosting domestic firms like Xiaomi, Huawei and Oppo, with knock-on downturn likely for Apple device sales / full item

• Philippines: Central bank lifts moratorium on establishment of new digital banks and conversions of bank licenses to digital ones, tho limiting licenses to 10 in total / full item

• Australian Flow Batteries have demonstrated its diesel replacement system, a mobile, rapidly deployable hybrid power solution featuring a 123m retractable solar array / full item

• Indonesia: Taiwan Mobile and partners invested $3M in Indonesia's Soul Parking, the country’s largest parking technology company / full item

• Malaysia: Maxis telco and Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman partner on 5G, looking a commercially viable opportunities in healthcare and education / full item

• Thailand: Rakkar gains Digital Asset Custodian License from the Ministry of Finance to provide digital assets custodial services to institutions / full item

• Malaysia: Communications regulator grants WeChat and TikTok licences to operate under new social media law, with other major platforms mid-application or failing to apply / full item

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"The world has about two years to prepare for AI-powered cyber weapons capable of evading current security tools, a NATO-backed security startup warned…" / full item

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In wider-world technology news:

» The Annual Letter from the Future Today Institute, looking at 2025 Macro Themes, and delivering the 2024 Signals Review / full item

» Microsoft is set to invest near $80BN to build out AI-enabled datacenters to train AI models and to deploy AI and cloud-based applications, globally / full item

» Judge in Florida uses VR headset to view a simulation of an alleged crime, allowing it to be submitted as evidence during a trial, believed to be a courtroom first / full item

» The emerging health impacts of misinformation resulting from short video and podcast influencers / full item

» NVIDIA unveils products including AI focused on robots and cars, advanced gaming chips, first NVIDIA desktop computer, and Toyota Motor deal for chips and software / full item

» Spain's GDV startup is to deploy its utility-scale G-One 'megabattery' made from refurbished electric vehicle batteries for the Port of Alicante / full item

» Soliddd is prototyping accessibility-focused SolidddVision 'smart glasses', specifically for people suffering macular degeneration / full item

» US Cyber Trust Mark launches to provide American consumers with labelling for cybersecure connected devices, although only a voluntary program for manufacturers / full item

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“Quantum teleportation has been demonstrated over a fiber optic cable carrying classical traffic (like the Internet) for the first time. The work suggests it will be possible to take advantage of the benefits quantum communication offers without building a whole new infrastructure in parallel to what already exists.” / full item

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