Asia's tech news, weekly: January 2nd 2024

Singapore Green Plan, Cambodia & crypto-crime, digital yuan for ASEAN, New Zealand Clean Tech Fund, China's space & satellites bids, India & deepfake legislation, world's largest lithium deposit...

• South Korea: An interview-driven look at the nation's evolving cybersecurity policy and actions in response to North Korean cyberattacks

• Cambodia: "Tether is banned in Cambodia but is frequently used to move money... for gambling, and laundering money... also appeals to crime groups running online gaming and cyber scams in Southeast Asia..."

• China: Cities of Nanning and Fangchenggang unveil plans to 'build a digital [yuan] application pilot demonstration zone for the ASEAN', another move looking at region-wide cross-border de-dollarization

• Download: 'The Indian payments handbook 2022–2027' from pwc (pdf link)

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"The 12,000-satellite G60 Starlink project, along with the 13,000-satellite Guo Wang national network which is currently under construction, is widely seen as China’s answer to Elon Musk's Starlink"

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• India's cybersecurity issues: "Over 400 million detections across approximately 8.5 million Endpoints. Detection Rate: Averaging 761 detections per minute..."

• China: Phase II of Guangdong Semiconductor & Integrated Circuit Industry Equity Investment Fund initiated, a $1.5BN local gov't version of national Big Fund

• New Zealand: ASB Bank, owned by Australia's Commonwealth Bank, rolls out Clean Tech Fund for early-stage companies in the field to access capital, offering up to $5M

• Reserve Bank of India is in talks with US and HK counterparts, and SWIFT network, around feasibility of digital cross-border settlements, likely using central bank digital currencies

• China Nat'l Space Admin and Egyptian Space Agency ink cooperation agreements for Egypt participation in China's International Lunar Research Station project, China-led BRICS satellite constellation and more

• Singapore's Seraya Partners private equity firm raised $800M for Asia infrastructure fund focusing on digital infrastructure and energy transition investments, with AIIB amongst backers

• India: Tata Group to build a second iPhone plant in Tamil Nadu featuring 20 assembly lines and creating 50K jobs inside 2 years; also to launch 100 retail outlets dedicated to Apple products

• India, Taiwan and US reps met recently to discuss cybersecurity and digital issues, with Taiwan and US entering Global Cooperation and Training Framework to leverage Taiwan's expertise

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"LLMs are capable of being fine-tuned by rogue attackers, cybercrime, Advanced Persistent Threat, and nation-state attack teams anxious to drive their economic and social agendas."

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• Singapore's Maritime and Port Authority inks MoU with China's Tianjin Municipal Transportation Commission to develop Tianjin Green and Digital Shipping Corridor, involving multiple stakeholders and institutions

• China's SEIDA, a case study in why containment efforts around access to high-end technologies is so challenging to implement, maintain and develop

• Malaysia's MY EG and China state-owned Guangxi Beitou to use MY EG Zetrix blockchain platform to internationalize digital ID verification, integrating with China's Public Blockchain

• Singapore Green Plan 2030, a whole-of-nation movement to advance Singapore's national agenda on sustainable development

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McKinsey & Co: Emerging technology trends in Asia

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• China, AI & intellectual property: "It could give creators an incentive to use Chinese-made systems... There’s a trillion-dollar AI industry behind that 500-yuan ruling."

• Australia: Planning is now underway for $425M Riverbend Energy Hub in SA, aiming to convert 200K tonnes of landfill into hydrogen annually upon completion

• Download: 'Indo-Pacific Security in 2030-35 - Links in the Chain' via the Hague Center for Strategic Studies

• China's Luxshare, a key Apple production partner, to acquire major stake in iPhone assembly plant currently operated by Taiwan’s Pegatron in $300M deal, becoming serious competitor to Foxconn

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"Forecasts suggest that by 2024, the number of digital voice assistants will reach 8.4 billion – a number higher than the world’s population... There are over 110 million virtual assistant users in the US alone..."

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• World-first cross-border CBDC-backed precious metal deal by Shanghai and HK Bank of China branches and Shanghai Gold Exchange completes gold transaction worth $14.1M

• Taiwan expands list of sanctioned items for Russia and Belarus, aligning with EU, US and others to limit high-tech goods for military purposes

• Singapore's Golden Gate Ventures VC firm opens Middle East and North Africa office in Saudi Arabia, looking to capitalize on the MENA startup ecosystem

• China: Nine more banks join digital yuan pilot project, taking number offering CBDC wallets to 60 with institutions including megabanks, credit providers and beyond

• India: Gov't issues advisory notice to social media platforms around requirements relating to deepfakes appearing on their platforms, with legislation to come

• China: SigmaStar chip maker sets sights on $780M IPO via Shanghai Star Market, building on the country's bid for semiconductor and high-tech independence

• 5G Alliance for Connected Industries & Automation, world's largest 5G industrial alliance, held its annual Assembly in Taiwan, with MOU inked aligning Taiwan manufacturers with global IIoT standards

• China: Bank of China Dongguan launches country's first ATM allowing the opening of digital yuan wallets for overseas passport holders, handling cash-to-CBDC exchange across 18 currencies

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"Tencent lost about $43.5 billion in market value... after China surprised financial markets with a fresh set of rules aimed at curbing excessive gaming..."

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• 'An Overview of Cyber Security & Asset Management Standards in the Australian Mining and Minerals Sector', a June 2023 report from RMIT University Centre for Cyber Security Research & Innovation

• Malaysia: China's BEST Inc logistics services firm to open its largest SEA sorting center in Selangor, alongside 220,000-square-meter facility linking Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia to its network

• Vietnam: Kyber Network crypto-focused startup cuts workforce by 50% following November cyber-attack resulting in loss of $48.8M

• Australia’s privacy watchdog launches privacy inquiry into how China's TikTok harvests personal data, and whether it is being done with consent

• China: A very brief outline of the Deep Underground and Ultra-low Radiation Background Facility for Frontier Physics Experiments, exploring fields including particle physics, nuclear astrophysics and life sciences

• From e27: Snapshots of the 2023 startup ecosystems in The Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand

• 'Six macrotrends impacting the future of payments - Southeast Asia perspective', pwc's take on opportunities and challenges in the region's digital payments space

• India: Jio telecoms giant to launch an operating system for televisions, alongside Bharat GPT program and full private 5G stack for enterprize use

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'What can we expect from the generative AI boom, the sustainability imperative, and the rising pressure to monetize across tech, media, and telecom?' Deloitte's take on tech in 2024

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• China successfully adds 2 satellites to Beidou positioning system - but fails with staging rocket re-entry crash-landing in inhabited area

• India's Tier 2 and 3 cities: "In emerging cities, businesses enjoy a 25-30 percent cost advantage in talent pool costs and a striking 50 percent lower real estate rental compared with mature hubs."

• Download: 'Global E-commerce Trends Report' from JP Morgan

• Download: 'Semiconductors in Key European and Indo-Pacific Economies: Geopolitical Risk in the Supply Chains into 2030 and Beyond', from the Hague Centre for Strategic Studies

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"How secure is European maritime trade with the Indo-Pacific? Sea lines of communication between the two regions pass through several chokepoints..."

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• Download: 'Navigating the Global Crypto Landscape with PwC: 2024 Outlook'

• Download: 'PwC Global CBDC Index and Stablecoin Overview 2023'

Video: '2023 Year in Review of blockchain adoption in the Philippines'

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Tech news beyond Asia & the Indo-Pacific:

» US Department of Energy announces discovery of what may be the world's largest lithium deposit in California, an estimated 18M-tons worth up to $540BN

» Europe: A brief intro to some of the EU companies and technologies focusing on non-lithium batteries and energy storage

» Google DeepMind's GNoME AI tool described over 2.2 million new materials, with over 700 now produced and undergoing testing

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"Graphene, a 2D form of carbon...is now being touted as a replacement for silicon in semiconductors. China has started using it to get ahead in the global microchip wars."

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More of Asia's technology news:

• LinkedIn / Twitter / Facebook / Monthly / Web / Connect

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