Huawei will invest 475 million baht (15 million U.S. dollars) to support new 5G EIC in Thailand

According to the latest report, Huawei Thailand is investing 475 million baht to establish a 5G ecosystem innovation centre at the Digital Economy Promotion Agency’s (Depa) headquarters in Thailand.

The Thailand 5G Ecosystem Innovation Center had its opening ceremony event. In the event, Thailand’s Minister of Digital Economy and Society, Buddhipongse Punnakanta, attended in place of the country’s Prime Minister Chan-o-cha. The government official also thanked the Chinese company for its cooperation in setting up the new center.

In partnership with the Thailand Ministry of Digital Economy and Society MDES and The Digital Economy Promotion Agency (Depa), Huawei will conduct research on how to use the fifth-generation network across different industries such as medical care, agriculture, remote learning and security.

“This is an important milestone demonstrating the readiness of Thailand to be a digital hub in Asean by utilising 5G technologies to improve economic and social development,” DES minister Buddhipongse Punnakanta said yesterday at the opening ceremony.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha also assigned the DES to make 5G services available to everyone to reduce inequality and create equal opportunity. 5G-enabled smartphones currently cost upwards of 31,000 baht.

“We are considering a roll-out of smart agriculture in the Northeast and South after deploying 5G in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, as well as considering privileges for various sectors to adopt 5G to reduce expenses,” he said. “Thailand is open to other technology leaders in every area, not just from China.”

Abel Deng, chief executive of Huawei Thailand, said Huawei is continuing to drive Thailand 4.0 by investing in the innovation centre, which includes equipment and expert training. “The 5G ecosystem innovation centre in Thailand is the first such launch in Asean,” he said.

Huawei’s 5G ecosystem innovation centre will support testbed, technology transfer and training to leverage use of the 5G ecosystem. Depa aims to do business matching with startups, train 500 workers per year and develop at least 20 innovations, said Mr Nuttapon.

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