The government signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Chinese tech giant Huawei to build a fifth-generation (5G) network in Cambodia, according to Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Facebook page.

The MoU was signed between representatives of Huawei and Sok Puthivuth, secretary of state at the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications in Beijing on Sunday with Prime Minister Hun Sen and Huawei founder and CEO Ren Zhengfei as witnesses.

Li Jin’ge, Huawei Group’s president for Southeast Asia – better known as James Wu – said the Kingdom is the first Asean country to sign a development agreement on 5G technologies.

He said the company will cooperate with relevant government institutions and continue to further collaborate with other ministries and institutions in the Kingdom’s digital sector.

Huawei opened a representative office in Cambodia in 1999. Its investments in the Kingdom have been successful as has its collaboration with the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, according to Li.

“Huawei expresses its thanks to [the prime minister] who has supported and has given us the opportunity to do business in Cambodia successfully,” said Li.

During the meeting, Prime Minister Hun Sen said he wants the company to help build Cambodia’s capacity, especially in the technology sector, to speed up online services in the Kingdom.

“Cambodia having 5G internet would be very good – the Internet would be much faster,” he said.

China’s Huawei is currently in an ongoing dispute with the US and some EU countries, who allege that the company is being used by the Chinese government for espionage and data breaches, a claim which Beijing and Huawei strongly refute.