President of Panama Meets Huawei Founder in Beijing

[Beijing, China, November 18, 2017] An official delegation from Panama, led by President Juan Carlos Varela, visited Huawei today at its Executive Briefing Center in Beijing. The delegation was received by Huawei's founder, Mr. Ren Zhengfei, who took President Varela on a tour of Huawei's facilities.

Huawei's founder, Mr. Ren Zhengfei took President Varela on a tour of Huawei's facilities.

During his meeting with the President, Mr. Ren highlighted Panama's importance as a center of core competency in the region, and reinforced Huawei's commitment to continue developing in the country. In addition to building out Panama's digital infrastructure, and paving the way for an emerging digital economy, Huawei will continue investing in the next generation of Panama's information and communications talent.

President Varela highlighted that Huawei is a strategy alliance to continue the modernization and economic development of Panama. He had identified the cooperation area with Huawei, such as Education, Security, Health and Digital Transformation.

Huawei established operations in Panama in 2008, and founded its Multinational Company Headquarters for the Latin American region there in October 2011. In 2015, Huawei invested further in the country, building its Supply Center in the Colón Free Zone. The company has created more than 300 jobs for Panamanians, including more than 180 in the Colón area.

Beyond expanding its operations and boosting employment, Huawei is actively investing in Panama's people. In addition to regular digital training for customers, students, and government officials, Huawei works with the Ministry of Education to donate laptops to schools in need, and is developing the Huawei eClassroom, which will provide a platform for interactive education via teleconferencing equipment for children in underserved, remote communities. In 2015, the company launched its Seeds for the Future program, which sent 30 outstanding students from the University of Panama and the Technology University of Panama to Huawei's headquarters in Shenzhen, China, for a week of training and knowledge transfer with ICT experts.

With diplomatic relations established between Panama and China, new business opportunities will continue to flood into both countries. Huawei has a successful track record in Panama and the Central American region, and is committed to working closely with the Panamanian Government to drive economic growth and build a better connected Panama.