Ren Zhengfei, founder and CEO of Huawei, acknowledged the Arab world’s long and profound history, particularly its mastery of mathematics, geometry and engineering design, during a recent meeting with a contingent of media from across the Middle East and North Africa (Mena), including Qatar.
He also highlighted the impressive work done by Qatar in the area of education and the valuable leadership of Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, chairperson of Education Above All and UN Sustainable Development Goals Advocate, Huawei said in a press statement.
The meeting was an opportunity to share Zhengfei’s thoughts on the region’s bold digital transformation efforts as well as Huawei’s plans for supporting local partners to scale digital services to more people, homes and organisations than ever before.
“The Silk Road established by our ancestors connected the cultures of China, Central Asia and the Middle East, and we have great admiration for it. We should continue in the spirit of the Silk Road today with 5G and high-speed rail. This will drive the economic growth of the entire region,” he said. “Moreover, we believe that the Middle East will become one of the world’s highest grounds for 5G, and that 5G will be the infrastructure of this rejuvenated civilisation.”
In the region, countries like Qatar have been in the first wave of 5G commercial launches, standing at the global forefront. Addressing the expansion of 5G in particular, Zhengfei noted that these cutting-edge technologies will help countries bridge the digital divide and contribute to cultural and educational development.
“The key to rejuvenating any country or nation lies in education. Today, knowledge is our oil, our forests and our coal,” the executive stated. “The advancement of 5G and AI can create more wealth than ever for a society. But in the new era, when ICT becomes a main driver of productivity, resources must be used to provide support for people and to give them training.”
Zhengfei was also candid in addressing the ICT industry’s cybersecurity challenges and Huawei’s evolving relationship with American technology companies.
“When countries regard physical resources as wealth, geographical boundaries are very important. However, the wealth of digital technologies is global and transcends boundaries,” said Zhengfei. He confirmed that Huawei is currently in discussions with countries around the world about signing a “no backdoor” agreement to safeguard data on its networks.
For things like 5G base stations, transmission networks and core networks, Zhengfei noted that Huawei doesn’t rely on US parts or components at all, so it won’t be affected by American sanctions on that front.
Today, Qatar remains a strong market for Huawei globally at a time when both the public and private sectors are making critical investments in ICT infrastructure, the statement noted. The Ministry of Education & Higher Education and Huawei recently launched the third edition of the annual Huawei Middle East ICT Competition in Qatar in partnership with Qatar University, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Carnegie Mellon University and the Community College of Qatar.
Huawei has also previously stressed that it is determined to serve Qatar’s FIFA 2022 World Cup preparations by facilitating an always-connected, all-encompassing, intelligent society.
“Our main direction is to move forward with new technology and explore what’s next. The exploration itself is a contribution to society,” believes Zhengfei.
The executive’s latest interviews come shortly after Huawei announced its business results for the third quarter of 2019. During the first three quarters of this year, Huawei’s global revenues increase by 24.4% year-on-year. Huawei has maintained its focus on ICT infrastructure and smart devices in its efforts to help build a fully connected, intelligent world.
By the end of Q3 2019, more than 700 cities, 228 Fortune Global 500 companies and 58 Fortune Global 100 companies had selected Huawei as their partner for digital transformation.
Ren Zhengfei
