In line with its expansion plans in Qatar and its commitment to support Qatar digitalization journey, Huawei announced opening a new office in the UDC tower, The Pearl Island, Qatar.
The new 4,000 SQM office will house Huawei’s operations to help meeting the future needs of the company’s growing workforce and business. The move reaffirms Huawei’s long-term commitment to Qatar and achieving its mandate to play a key role in achieving the country’s endeavors to build a digital economy
The new office inauguration was attended by His Excellency Mr. Mohammed bin Ali Al Mannai, Minister of Communications and Information Technology, and senior representatives from the Investment Promotion Agency of Qatar (IPA Qatar), United Development Company (UDC), Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the State of Qatar and Huawei management team led by Mr. Steven Yi, President, Huawei Middle East and Central Asia.
Commenting on Huawei’s new office opening, H.E. Mr. Mohammed bin Ali Al Mannai said: “Huawei is considered one of our important partners and is among the top leading companies in the field of information and communication technology. I am pleased to welcome Huawei’s new expansion in Qatar. There is no doubt that this will contribute to enhancing digital innovation and creating new digital opportunities in the Qatari market.”
Mr. Steven Yi, President, Huawei Middle East and Central Asia, said: “Today’s new office opening is a commitment to our future in Qatar. We are proud of our history in the country and Huawei will continue to support Qatar’s digital transformation through its cutting-edge technology solutions. I look forward to welcoming customers, partners, visitors and Huawei team members to our new office. I am confident that this expansion will drive further recruitment of elite talent who will take the lead in achieving the goals of the Qatar National Vision 2030, towards a leading sustainable digital society.”
Following the inauguration ceremony, a panel discussion was held at the new office exhibition center addressed Qatar’s position as a regional business hub, the role of ICT and the presence of global ICT companied like Huawei in achieving the goals of Qatar National Vision 2030.
During the panel discussion, three speakers shared their insights on Public Private partnerships to drive Qatar socio-economic growth through ICT. Ms. Eman Al Kuwari, Director of Digital Innovation Department at Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), Mr. Fahad Ali Al-Kuwari, Senior Manager of Investor Relations, The Investment promotion Authority (IPA), and Mr. Kamal Zian, Chief Cybersecurity and Privacy Officer – Gulf North representative Office, Huawei. The panel was moderated by Ammar Tobba, Vice President or Huawei Public Affairs and Communications in the Middle East and Central Asia.
Mr. Al-Kuwari discussed how foreign investment is helping support of Qatar ICT sector and the achievement of the country’s economic diversification goals. He described Huawei business expansion in Qatar as a milestone and a testament to Qatar’s unwavering commitment to fostering a thriving business environment.
Ms. Eman highlighted that Qatar is emerging as one of leading countries in the world in new technology adaptation, innovation, and system automation. The ICT sector is listed as a priority sector in the national agenda with the sector contributing 1.9 percent to the GDP. The ICT market is currently estimated at $4.4 billion and is expected to grow rapidly in the future, creating a rich environment for businesses of all kinds to enter the ICT sector.
Regarding partnerships with global technology providers like Huawei, Ms. Eman said “It is worth noting that partnerships with such companies can play a role in enabling the growth and development of the ICT sector in Qatar. These partnerships involve collaboration in areas such as infrastructure development, technology transfer, knowledge sharing, and capacity building”.
“MCIT had collaboration with Huawei before in projects related to innovation and MCIT is open for Collaboration with company like Huawei. I believe Huawei’s involvement can contribute to infrastructure development, innovation, and research, fostering the creation of new products, services, and technologies aligned with digital transformation goals. Furthermore, partnerships with Huawei facilitate knowledge transfer, skills development, and the establishment of strong networks, ultimately supporting the growth, competitiveness, and technological advancement of the collaborating entities and the wider ecosystem.” Ms. Eman added.
On sustainability, Ms. Eman said, “The Ministry is working through TASMU Program to develop programs that serve sustainability, such as Sustainability Readiness Index, an application that is leveraging input on users’ resource consumption & life habits to determine a personalized carbon footprint index. Users are able to retrieve statistics on main drivers and receive tailored recommendations to adjust their actions. Also P2P Energy Trading Platform, is a platform for residents and businesses to sell any excess energy produced by decentralized solar power generation to others on the grid. The platform is enabled by solar, smart grid & net metering technology.”
Mr. Kamal highlighted how the importance of global ICT vendors in empowering government authorities and enabling local partners in key projects such as the World Cup and building 5G networks and taking advantage of the AI and cloud computing accelerating power. He emphasized on the importance of open collaboration between the private and public sectors and the alignment with international standards in ICT, sustainability and green energy to contribute to achieving Qatar national goals.
His Excellency Mohamed bin Ali Al Mannai, Minister of Communications and Information Technology and Steven Yi, president of Huawei ME & CA and Rico Lin who is now the CEO of Huawei Gulf North
Huawei’s new office will host the company’s business operations, including Carrier Networks, Enterprise, Consumer, Cloud, and Digital Power. In addition, the new office will play a critical role in managing the company’s CSR programs and initiatives in Qatar, such as Huawei’s flagship program, Seeds for the Future, ICT Competition, and ICT Academy. The new office will also host an exhibition center that will function as an executive briefing center, showcasing many of the company’s products, solutions, and advanced technologies in the ICT industry.
The Qatar 2030 vision stresses digital transformation as a key pillar to embrace a strong digital economy for the future. Both government and private sector initiated key transformations projects leveraging ICT technologies to achieve operation excellence and growth. Huawei supported customers and partners in Qatar with cutting edge solutions in multiple domain including connectivity such as FBB, 5G, cloud & Data center infrastructure, smart devices and professional ICT services just to name a few, such local demand allowed Huawei to build strong partnerships and effectively contribute in the national digital agenda.
The overall mobile connectivity speed in Qatar is at the top worldwide. Qatar’s mobile infrastructure is world-class and 5G implementation has been extensive enabling the market to more effectively leverage other emerging technologies like IoT and cloud services. Qatar has an excellent fiber and mobile infrastructure including 5G. This infrastructure is core to supporting individuals increasing demand for connectivity as well as meeting public and business sector needs related to cloud services, IoT, AI, big data and more. This gives unprecedented opportunities to global ICT vendors like Huawei to further contribute to the market advancements.
Looking into the future, Huawei believes that by leveraging technologies such as 5.5G, 6G, cloud, AI and digital twins, Huawei cloud focus on the local requirements of different industries and application scenarios, and empower new use cases with technologies. Huawei openly collaborate with a wide range of partners in Qatr to develop business ecosystems that thrive on shared success. The company aims to unleash ecosystem-based innovation and create greater value for our customers while achieving shared success with ecosystem partners and developers.
Huawei has been operating in the Qatari market since 2003 and currently works with both telecom providers – Ooredoo and Vodafone Qatar – serving approximately two million people in the country. Huawei is also actively cultivating local ICT talents to contribute to Qatar’s ICT ecosystem. Huawei expanded its STEM and education initiatives last year through its flagship CSR program, ‘Seeds for the Future’, Huawei ICT Competition, and Huawei ICT Academy to further support the country’s core focus on innovation.
