Telecom Ministry signs MoU with Huawei

During his recent visit to Huawei’s headquarters in Shenzhen, China, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the ambassador of the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on ICT cooperation between the Ministry of Telecommunication and Digital Infrastructure and Huawei Sri Lanka.

PM Wickremesinghe also visited Huawei’s new ICT industry exhibition hall and met Senior Vice President, Huawei, Li Jinge said.

PM Wickremesinghe said, “Huawei is a leading global ICT company. I am greatly impressed by Huawei’s innovative and advanced ICT technologies. We welcome Huawei to participate in ICT planning and construction in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka government seeks further cooperation with Huawei.”

Li Jinge said, “We will actively respond to The Prime Minister’s call. Huawei will continue to contribute to ICT development and digital economy in Sri Lanka. We are pleased to bring our global experience in ICT industry and provide leading ICT solutions and consumer devices to Sri Lanka. We will accelerate the local ICT talent development. This year, we will also set up a Customer Solution Integration and Innovation Center in Sri Lanka.”

“Huawei can share its global best practice with Sri Lanka customers at the innovation center. Customers can have an interactive engagement with the experts from Huawei Headquarters and other countries and even exchange ideas, make innovation and build up cooperation with industry players at the innovation centre,”he said.

The Chinese ambassador in Sri Lanka Yi Xianliang said he will support the cooperation between Huawei and Sri Lanka, especially in international financial city, industry zone in Hambantota.

Huawei will launch its Seeds for the Future program in Sri Lanka to sponsor a study trip to China for 10 local university students this year. Students will have the opportunity to study the latest ICT technologies at Huawei’s headquarters in China and experience Chinese culture at a university in Beijing.

Huawei has been operating business in Sri Lanka since 2005. At that time, the local mobile penetration rate was only 16.85%, and the household broadband penetration rate was 0.4%. Over the past 11 years, Huawei has partnered with local operators to focus on innovation and bridging the digital divide.

Sri Lanka’s mobile penetration rate now reaches 112%, and the household broadband penetration rate reaches 12%. Huawei’s networks have served 70% of total population in Sri Lanka, and Sri Lankan customers can now enjoy the high-speed 4G networks.

Huawei has over 400 employees in Sri Lanka, of whom 86% are local hires. Huawei has indirectly created over 1,000 jobs.

Over the past 11 years, Huawei has developed large numbers of local ICT talent.