“Huawei has been operating in the Middle East region for over 20 years and we are very satisfied with our performance there,” said Ken Hu, rotating chairman, Huawei at the Huawei 2020 Annual Report press conference which took place online.
Mr. Hu was responding to a question from the media related to Huawei’s business in the Middle East region. He said that Huawei is now an important ICT infrastructure and consumer devices supplier in the Middle East and said that the region contributed a very important share to their revenues.
“We have established very good relations with the government and regulators of various countries in the Middle East. For example, in the UAE, Huawei is an important supplier of UAE's 5G networks. In the 3G era, Etisalat was one of the key customers of Huawei,” he said. He also mentioned that passengers at the airports in UAE were able to witness a good 5G experience.
“We have seen major progress in the past 5 to 10 years with regards to the enterprise business. Huawei has been serving many organizations in UAE. Huawei has worked with partners to provide cloud services to organizations. Huawei's consumer devices, especially smartphones are one of the top brands in the Middle East countries,” he added.
Stressing that Huawei’s services in the Middle East go beyond technology solutions, Mr. Hu said, “We are also making contributions in other fields as well. We have invested to help ME countries to develop ICT talent. We have a dedicated programme to help develop ICT talent.”
He pointed out that for over 5 years Huawei has been partnering with over 400 universities to enable over 8000 students with ICT know-how and capabilities.
“Even amidst the pandemic last year, we launched an online learning programme to help students continue their education and continue to pick up ICT technologies. Last year alone, over 30,000 students have assessed online learning platforms for courses and over 9000 students have been granted certificates for specific technology fields such as 5G, artificial intelligence, and cloud services,” he said.
“So I believe when the Middle East goes digital, Huawei plays a multi-faceted role. Huawei is not just playing the role of a technology provider but also playing an important part in helping local communities to develop ICT talent,” he stressed.
He also pointed out that Huawei is supporting the events such as UAE’s Expo 2020 and Qatar’s FIFA World Cup by working with local partners to support such key events, including the provision of 5G services, network assurance as well as devices.
“We look forward to helping the ME region with our innovation and solutions,” he said.
