Huawei Holds Sixth ICT Finance Forum, Building a Bridge of Communication and Creating Value for a Better Connected World

[Cancun, Mexico, June 15, 2016] Huawei held its 6th ICT Finance Forum in Cancun from June 15 to 17. Huawei CFO Sabrina Meng delivered a keynote speech at the forum. The event attracted distinguished guests, including Ben S. Bernanke, former Chairman of the Federal Reserve, who once remarked that the US dollar may have peaked, and Kevin Kelly, founding executive editor of Wired magazine, who predicted the technological, social, and economic prospects in 1994 in his book Out of Control.

Meng stated in her speech, "To succeed in the future information society, an enterprise must be open, collaborative, willing to share, and seek win-win results for all. Huawei will build more bridges for communication and share industry trends and achievements with our customers, channel partners, financial institutions, and suppliers. Together, we will build a Better Connected World."

Huawei CFO Sabrina Meng delivers a keynote speech at the Huawei Sixth ICT Finance Forum

Meng added that information technology has greatly changed the ways people work and live, and connection has become a basic human right and has great power. She also mentioned that connection is now a critical factor of production for modern enterprises, saying it fuels economic growth and ensures that The World Is Flat is no longer simply empty talk. Meng quoted The Bridge, a poem by Mexico's Nobel Prize laureate Octavio Paz to show the importance and ubiquity of connections.

We are making a Better Connected World. But what will this future look like? Kevin Kelly shared his findings in his book The Inevitable – Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future. He says that all industries, no matter where they are, will greatly rely on data correlation, analytics, and machine learning. Very soon our society will be empowered and transformed by artificial intelligence using that data.

Ben S. Bernanke, former Chairman of the Federal Reserve and a distinguished guest of the forum, analyzed the current global economic conditions in his keynote speech. He said, Overall, the global economic outlook is still mixed. Developed countries are struggling to raise their inflation rates while emerging markets are finding ways to respond to low economic growth. “The digital economy has huge potential to help countries drive economic development."

Erik Moreno, executive vice president, business development, Time Inc., agreed that the digital economy holds huge potential. He said, “Technology continues to empower consumers and fundamentally change industries such as media. On balance, the innovation fostered by information and communications technology companies drive economic growth, entrepreneurship and a more open world."

Michael M. Roberts, Chief Lending Officer at Citibank, gave an opening speech, highlighting Huawei and Citi’s long and deep relationship. Michael also mentioned that Huawei is leading the way in connecting business and people, and creating value for a better connected world” and indicated his confidence in Huawei’s future with continued investment in R&D and a culture of innovation, Huawei is well positioned to harness and opportunities of increasing globalization, connectivity and digitization.

This has been the 6th high-level forum focusing on the financial sector held by Huawei, attracting more than 450 representatives from financial institutions and the ICT industry. The company's five previous forums took place in Singapore, Dubai, London, New York, and Geneva.