BANGKOK -- China's Huawei Technologies has pledged to spend $50 million over the next five years to cultivate tech talent in the Asia-Pacific region, kicking off the initiative with a training program in Southeast Asia.

Huawei, the world's biggest telecommunications equipment supplier, will select 200 people between the ages of 15 and 30 for online training starting in 2022. During the second year, it will have 20 people intern at the company.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations is partnering with Huawei's two-year program, and according to a memorandum of understanding signed Wednesday with the ASEAN Foundation, the company will cover all training costs.

"Cultivating an innovative [information and communications technology] talent ecosystem is fundamental to digital transformation," said Jeffery Liu, president of Huawei Asia Pacific, in a statement.

The training initiative will function as an extension of the Huawei ASEAN Academy, which develops talent in Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Cambodia.

Representatives from Huawei Technologies and the ASEAN Foundation at a Nov. 3 signing ceremony. (Photo by Marimi Kishimoto)

The academy will expand to a total of eight locations over the next five years, according to Liu.

The program "will play an important part" in resolving a digital worker shortage of about 2 million in Southeast Asia, according to Yang Mee Eng, executive director of the ASEAN Foundation.