Huawei's commitment to the Caribbean Basin continued in 2021with several projects to deepen economic and technological development in the region. With a comprehensive focus across youth, education, sport, carbon reduction and women in ICT and digital economy, the global technology firm has leveraged its offices based in Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica to display its commitment to Caribbean islands.
This commitment is also present globally in other markets of operation where the company moved from 49th to 44th place on Fortune Global 500 and ranks 8th in the Forbes World's Best Employers for 2021.
Guo Ping, rotating chairman, Huawei, recognised the challenges facing global citizens in the company's 2022 New Year's Day Message, noting that it was a year of "all hands on deck." The Huawei global team faced unprecedented challenges ranging from "50ºC temperatures in Kuwait" to "mosquito tornadoes" in Malawi but remained committed and undeterred from their missions at hand across the world.
The rotating chairman also recognised the opportunities at hand, adding, "The digital economy has become a major engine of global economic growth, and green and low-carbon technologies have become new drivers for sustainable development. This combination of digital transformation and green development presents the information and communication technology industry with incredible new opportunities."
With national digital transformation set as a mandate by the governments of many Caribbean countries, including Trinidad and Tobago, Huawei made many local inroads into supporting this objective. Huawei signed an MOU with Canto, the TT-based regional non-profit association made up of operators, organisations, companies, and individuals in the telecommunications sector in 2021.
The agreement, which also includes support for other territories in the Caribbean region, is primarily for knowledge transfer in the ICT arena, especially those stemming from the Fourth Industrial Revolution. It includes artificial intelligence, Cloud technologies, the Internet of Things and cyber security, and more people-centred topics, including gender equality in technology fields, clean energy, and digital talent development. Mark Xue, vice president of Huawei Latam and the Caribbean, has noted that Huawei's core theme of regional operation is "In Caribbean, For Caribbean."
Huawei also brought its leading-edge technology to partnerships with local telecommunications operator TSTT | bmobile, bringing best-in-class consumer technology, including the Huawei IdeaHub, to local businesses; also partnering with the Ministry of Education to donate several of these smart boards to schools across the country.
The company also continues to position itself as a supporter of Women in Tech and other local ICT talent development initiatives such as Seeds for the Future – training over 70 TT university students in the past six years in the latest technology developments like 5G and artificial intelligence – ensuring tha
