Asia's Tech News, Weekly: May 3rd 2025
Malaysia blockchain, China moon mission, TikTok in Japan, Indonesia QR payments, BYD in Cambodia, GITEX & Vietnam, 3D printing in Thai medtech, quantum beats RSA in China research...
• Taiwan: Chunghwa Telecom is in talks with Project Kuiper and Canada's Telesat around satellite communications, building on OneWeb and Astranis deals – but has ruled out Starlink / full item
• India: Government is considering limiting Chinese companies to a maximum of 10% equity investment in electronics JVs, contingent on tech transfer to drive local knowledge / full item
• China unveils international payloads selected for Chang’e-8 lunar south pole mission, with partner payloads from Pakistan, Hong Kong, Turkey and others / full item
• Malaysia: Government's tech agency, MIMOS Berhad, and MY EG Services Berhad digital services company have formally operationalized Malaysia Blockchain Infrastructure / full item
• Thailand Digital Arrival Card system launched on May 1st to screen foreign arrivals, in part a bid to combat growth in scammer networks and associated criminals / full item
"Indonesia is pushing ahead with the international expansion of its national QR code payment system despite mounting scrutiny from Washington..." / full item
• China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology moves ahead with development of prototype 5-meter and 10.6-meter-diameter stainless steel propellant tanks for super heavy-lift rockets / full item
• Indonesia: Tokenize Indonesia accelerator program launches, aiming to identify and support Real-World Asset start-ups in the blockchain and tokenization space / full item
• Japan: TDK Ventures launches $150M Fund 3, building on Fund 1, Fund 2 and Fund EX1, and bringing its total assets-under-management to $500 million / full item
• TikTok memo reveals e-commerce restructuring will in some cases shift governance and moderation out of country offices and into the hands of China and Singapore staff / full item
• Japan: TikTok is reportedly to enter Japan's online shopping market in the next few months, with the company preparing to recruit sellers for its TikTok Shop arm / full item
• Malaysia: State of Negeri Sembilan is to host 2 data centers, potentially pursuing a new hub position in the country as Johor limits approvals over resource consumption concerns / full item
• Japan: Stripe is to add new payment methods including Japan's PayPay, the nation's largest QR code payments service with 68 million users / full item
• Cambodia: China's BYD EV giant has broken ground on construction of $32 million EV assembly plant in Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone, with targeted capacity of 10,000 vehicles / full item
• GITEX Global announces new GITEX Vietnam tech conference for 2026, building on the success of April's inaugural GITEX Asia 2025 event / full item
• Peak XV Partners, formerly known as Sequoia India & Southeast Asia, is reportedly raising its first independent fund since Sequoia split, at $1.2 billion investment vehicle / full item
• PepsiCo unveils 10 startups selected for the 2025 Greenhouse Accelerator APAC Accelerator Program, each focused on aspects of the F&B ecosystem / full item
• Thailand: An intro to Meticuly, using on-site 3D printing to deliver personalized surgical implants / full item
"Thailand's data centre industry is projected to expand by 13.9 times between 2023 and 2028, attracting initial investments of approximately 320 billion baht." / full item
• Vietnam: Viettel Military Industry & Telecoms Group breaks ground on 140 MW 'Super Data Center', set to span nearly 4 hectares with approximately 10,000 racks / full item
• South Korea: Fair Trade Commission classifies Bithumb crypto exchange as a conglomerate, mandating the company adherence to a range of financial compliance rules / full item
• China's ByteDance, parent firm of TikTok, is reportedly looking at a major data center investment in Brazil, with talks underway with renewable energy firm, Casa dos Ventos / full item
• Japan: Progmat commences Phase 2 for 'Project Pax', aimed at building a cross-border remittance infrastructure using stablecoins, with domestic and overseas banks testing / full item
• Taiwan: Government launches 2025 edition of 'Run Space Innovation Challenge' to gather solutions and creative ideas for the space and satellite industries - submissions by June 30th / full item
• China: Quantum tech researchers claim achievement that not long ago was thought to be impossible, 'breaking' RSA encryption upon which current security is built / full item
• India plans to draw hundreds of millions of new users onto the Unified Payments Interface, the country's real-time payments system, while pitching for wider overseas adoption / full item
• Taiwan continues sustainable energy moves with inauguration of the first of 65 news wind turbines, targeting more than 920MW in capacity / full item
• India: An overview of Foxconn's new $2.5 billion facility outside Bengaluru, set to be the company’s 2nd-largest outside China and expected to create 40,000 jobs / full item
• Japan: TDK unveils an optical technology breakthrough to tackle high-speed data transfer between processors, a key AI bottleneck / full item
• Philippines: Department of Foreign Affairs is to issue new digital nomad visas, valid for up to one year, in bid to boost tourism revenue with remote workers / full item
"Inadequate investment in power grids is holding back developing countries in Asia and the Pacific from embracing the full benefits of an energy transition, including..." / full item
• China: Huawei is reportedly to begin mass shipment of advanced 910C AI chip to domestic customers as soon as May this year / full item
• Jiva Materials, a startup developing world-first recyclable substrate for printed circuit boards, heads to Taiwan showcase as part of Soft Landing Program / full item
• India's Dixon Technologies electronics manufacturer enters JV with Taiwan's Inventec Corp to make notebook and desktop PC products including components and servers in India / full item
• China: The on-demand services industry is set for fierce competition, with JD hiring 50,000 new delivery workers and targeting delivery in less than 30 minutes of order placement / full item
• Fiji preps for release of a national cybersecurity strategy, alongside partnering with Australia to establish a Fiji Computer Emergency Response Team / full item
• Philippines: Department of Trade & Industry has launched the Philippine Innovation Hub, iHub, to support startups and MSMEs at every stage of development, from ideation to global expansion / full item
• South Korea: SK Telecom customers take joint action after major data breach revealed user SIM information / full item
• Philippines’ new digital nomad visa: a boost for tourism or Pogo [Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator] loophole?' / full item
'Source of data: Are electric cars vulnerable to cyber spies and hackers?' / full item
In wider-world technology news:
» Available now: 'Space Threat Assessment 2025' from the Center for International and Strategic Studies / full item
» Download: 'State of FinTech Q1 2025' from BCG (pdf link) / full item
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