Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness Visits Huawei Headquarters in Shenzhen

[Shenzhen, China, November 6, 2019] Jamaican Prime Minister, Mr. Andrew Holness, visited Huawei’s Shenzhen ICT Industry Exhibition and Digital Transformation Exhibition Halls, and held talks with Mr. Peng Zhongyang, Board Member at Huawei, along with other company executives.

Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness and team during Huawei’s showroom visit, accompanied by Mr. Peng Zhongyang

Peng Zhongyang thanked the Jamaican Government and Prime Minister Holness for their support of Huawei’s local operations, and made it clear that Huawei will continue to develop its business in the country. This will be done by Huawei continuing to strengthen its cooperation with local operators to improve network quality and providing the best communication services for the Jamaican people. On this basis, Huawei will actively support the Jamaican Government’s ICT infrastructure modernization and digital transformation strategy, while continuing to invest in the development of local ICT talent.

Prime Minister Holness said, “Developing ICT infrastructure is one of the government’s important strategic objectives, and although there is still a long way to go, we will continue to increase investment to promote e-Government, Smart Cities, and digital transformation.”

Prime Minister Holness stated that during his Huawei exhibition hall visit that he had seen technology that could help to improve government efficiency, crime fighting, public order, and the country’s early environmental warning systems. He also noted that it was important for small countries like Jamaica to not just consume ICT, but to add value, and start to become producers of the technology. He applauded Huawei for helping to advance the world’s ICT technologies and for their focus on solving real world problems.

He went on to state that Jamaican businesses have deployed Huawei solutions, particularly in telecommunications and said that as long as Huawei’s products are competitive and reasonably priced, Jamaica will be a free and open market for Huawei. Prime Minister Holness finished by saying that he looked forward to Huawei’s continued investment in Jamaica and the development of young ICT talent in the country through Huawei’s “Seeds for the Future” program in an effort to support the nations ICT development.

Huawei Jamaica was established in November 2007. It has more than 40 employees of which more than 80% are locals, and provides more than 150 indirect jobs for Jamaicans. In order to support the growth and development of the ICT industry and future ICT leaders, Huawei Jamaica launched its flagship CSR program “Seeds for the Future” in 2017. Each year Huawei in partnership with both the UWI and UTECH, select students for the program. Over the past three years, 26 students have participated in the program where they received fully sponsored advanced ICT training at Huawei’s Shenzhen Headquarters.