🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

This partnership builds on projects already in motion

• CIMB had already backed regional 5G buildouts, including a 1.4 billion ringgit (US$352 million) financing facility for Malaysian mobile operator U Mobile’s network rollout in Malaysia 1.
• CIMB also works with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), a China-led multilateral development bank, plus other Malaysian banks to raise up to US$6 billion for sustainable and technology-enabled infrastructure projects across ASEAN 2.
• ZTE has moved on similar goals through a strategic partnership with PT Solusi Sinergi Digital Tbk (SURGE), an Indonesian telecommunications and digital infrastructure company, to commercially deploy Fixed Wireless Access, a broadband service delivered over mobile networks rather than fixed cables, using the 1.4GHz spectrum in Indonesia 3.
• The company is also involved in state-level digital transformation work through a strategic collaboration with SACOFA, a Sarawak state-backed telecommunications infrastructure company, focused on AI, cloud computing and sustainable network technologies 4.

What this could mean for procurement amid geopolitical sensitivities

• The tie-up may give ASEAN telecom operators and infrastructure developers a regional banking option for digital infrastructure funding, which could ease purchase decisions as they balance price with geopolitical pressure 5.
• In Vietnam, Chinese vendors such as ZTE recently won 5G-related contracts despite US security concerns, and Reuters sources said Chinese technology cost less 5.
• Working with a large regional bank may help ZTE plug into local financing channels, which could widen access for 5G expansion plus connectivity rollouts in underserved and rural areas 1, 4.