Is Indonesia becoming too reliant on Huawei?

Greater access to Indonesia’s market will boost the Chinese telecoms giant, as only 70 per cent of its 270 million people are online

But there are concerns that it is becoming the country’s only vendor, and worries over increased risk of Chinese interference, cyberattacks and hacking

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Indonesia has joined its Southeast Asian neighbours including Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos, in forming partnerships with Huawei. Photo: AP

Published: 7:37pm, 4 Dec 2020Updated: 7:57pm, 4 Dec 2020

China’s telecommunication equipment giant Huawei has solidified its standing in Indonesia, raising concerns that Southeast Asia’s largest economy is becoming increasingly reliant on a telecoms provider that is facing greater scrutiny from the West.

Indonesia has signed a flurry of agreements with Huawei in recent months, underlining the firm’s eagerness to strengthen its grip on the country’s US$27 billion telecoms and digital services industry.

The most notable deal was the October memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Presidential Staff Office to train 100,000 Indonesians in technology-related fields through vocational programmes, the first agreement of its kind for the Indonesian government.

Moeldoko, one of President Joko Widodo’s top aides, said during the signing ceremony that Indonesia needed at least 9 million employees in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector, “so the government cannot work alone to realise this”. In August, the president said US$2 billion would be allocated to support the ICT sector in the current financial year.

“The recent MOU between Indonesia and Huawei on spearheading 5G is something that we have already anticipated as Huawei is a proactive vendor in the region. Huawei’s reputation as a cutting-edge technology provider seems to have influenced Indonesia’s decision,” said Melinda Martinus, lead researcher in sociocultural affairs at the Asean Studies Centre at Singapore’s ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute.

“We should not be worried about Huawei’s growing presence and competitiveness in Indonesia and Southeast Asia. However, we should be concerned that Indonesia and Southeast Asia will become heavily reliant on Huawei as the only technology vendor.”

Huawei first entered Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, some two decades ago when telecoms operators started to strengthen their mobile connections. It helped them develop infrastructure to support internet networks, from 2G to 4G, and analysts said these partnerships are unlikely to ebb in the 5G era despite the West’s resistance to Huawei.

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