The Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, has met with Ren Zhengfei, founder of Huawei, in Beijing . The two sides discussed the development of ICT technologies and how to enhance mutual cooperation in the future.
Imran Khan thanked Huawei for setting up their office in Pakistan and for its continued investments in the country. The Prime Minister said that Huawei may strengthen its collaboration with Pakistan through local manufacturing, technology transfer in such fields as AI and contribute to Pakistan’s economy. Pakistan would welcome Huawei’s investment and facilitate them in doing business.
Ren Zhengfei thanked the Prime Minister for his support to Huawei, adding: "The development of ICT infrastructure is very important for national economic development and a catalyst for attracting foreign investment into Pakistan. Huawei would like to strength the cooperation with industrial community in Pakistan, keep working hard to bridge the digital divide and nurture more ICT professionals in the country.”
Since entering Pakistan in 1998, Huawei has maintained robust growth and contributed to Pakistan’s overall ICT industry development. Today employs about 1,600 people in the country, 91% of whom are Pakistani nationals. In 2018 alone, Huawei spent US$224 million in local procurement, and invested US$10 million to establish a Huawei Technical Support Center which has 800 ICT engineers.
Huawei has also committed to cultivating local talent in Pakistan through programs like the Huawei ICT Academy, through which the company has collaborated with 14 universities across Pakistan to date. Huawei is planning to establish another 8 Huawei ICT Academy and cultivate 3,000 ICT talents in 2019.
Source: https://www.huawei.com/en/press-events/news/2019/4/Prime-Minister-Pakistan-Huawei-Beijing