Latest news and trends about tech

Vietnam’s telecommunication giant Viettel Telecom (VTT) and China-based AI company iFLYTEK have signed a strategic cooperation agreement with to develop voice artificial intelligence (AI) technologies for the Vietnamese market, with a focus on speech processing and localization.

Malaysia’s Entrepreneur and Cooperatives Development Ministry is rolling out up to MYR 5 billion ($1.3 billion) in low-cost financing to support small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in scaling up and transitioning into higher value activities, national news agency Bernama reported on Thursday.

Vietnam Prosperity Crypto Asset Exchange Joint Stock Company (CAEX) has secured investment agreements with OKX Ventures and HashKey Capital, with the partners set to contribute funds to help the company meet the minimum capital requirement of VND10 trillion ($380 million).

The Malaysian government is stepping up efforts to move Malaysia further up the semiconductor value chain through the MyChipStart program, which aims to develop local integrated circuit (IC) design companies, national news agency Bernama reported Friday.

Maybank Cambodia has extended a $50 million financing facility to Smart Axiata, a subsidiary of Malaysian-headquartered Axiata Group Berhad, to accelerate the strategic development of Cambodia’s digital and telecommunications infrastructure, including 5G connectivity across the country.

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) could significantly reshape economies and labor markets across Asia and the Pacific, but widening disparities in readiness mean advanced economies are likely to capture most early gains, according to a report by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Friday.

Singapore fintech firm Thunes has joined forces with the Circle Payments Network (CPN) Managed Payments, to expand stablecoin settlement.

Chinese autonomous vehicle technology company Pony AI Inc. (Pony.ai) has partnered with Singapore's national transport group ComfortDelGro to launch autonomous mobility service in the city state.

Danantara Indonesia has announced the establishment of PT Daya Energi Bersih Nusantara (PT Denera), an integrated waste management company designed to serve as the holding entity for all Waste-to-Energy (WtE) or Pengolahan Sampah menjadi Energi Listrik (PSEL) project implementation across the country.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has launched a $25 million multi-partner fund to finance critical project preparation work for cross-border energy and transmission infrastructure within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) — the first such fund in the region.