At the Guangzhou sub-forum of the Asia-Pacific Media High-Level Forum on September 3, Chinese and foreign experts discussed ’From Innovation to Application: AI as a New Engine for Asia-Pacific Development’. Experts agreed that the region stands at a critical point where AI is shifting from technology R&D to large-scale application, and the region’s diversity and complementarity are key endowments for this transformation.
Maldivian Ambassador to China Fazeel Najeeb said the Asia-Pacific brings together economies of different capabilities and development stages; expecting every economy to develop the same technologies independently is neither realistic nor the goal. What matters is creating opportunities for countries to contribute according to their strengths and benefit from each other’s knowledge, expertise and innovation.
If coordination is the path, measurable economic results are the yardstick. Yasiru Bandara Ranaraja, founding director of Sri Lanka’s BRI Platform, cited data showing APEC’s 21 member economies have 3 billion people and more than 60% of global GDP; economic models suggest widespread AI adoption could lift regional GDP by 1.3% to 3.9%.
Professor Denis Badany of Guangzhou University’s School of Physics and Materials Science sketched a cross-industry picture: AI plus agriculture brings smart farms with precision irrigation, early pest detection and high-precision yield prediction; AI plus healthcare, through AI diagnostics, medical imaging analysis and clinical decision support, extends professional medical services to underserved regions. In all these scenarios, technology’s value lies in inclusiveness and efficiency.
Professor Hao Tianyong of South China Normal University used the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to show how an open innovation ecosystem is the best soil for moving AI from R&D to application: Guangzhou’s rich application scenarios, Shenzhen’s R&D capacity, Hong Kong and Macao’s international talent and capital channels, plus regional policy space for pilot programs, let technologies quickly find use cases while real industry needs drive iteration. This path of ’scenario pull, technology support, standards escort and ecosystem coordination’ is key to AI’s sustained value.
In Badany’s view, the Asia-Pacific’s diversity is both an endowment and an opportunity. Xie Yegen, executive vice president of Rongjie Investment Holding Group, added that many regional economies are advancing digital transformation and green low-carbon energy transition in parallel; the bay area’s accumulated experience in energy-storage manufacturing and computing-power coordination can complement markets in Southeast and South Asia for practical industrial cooperation.
Hao put it bluntly: AI is a shared opportunity for the Asia-Pacific. Rather than fragmented technology races, open and inclusive ecosystem coordination, mutually recognized standards and win-win application practices will make AI a lasting engine for high-quality development in the region.
