RIYADH, 21 December, 2020, (TON): The Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) of Saudi Arabia has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Chinese tech giant Huawei to strengthen the kingdom's digital economy and information communication technology (ICT) talent ecosystem.

The MoU was signed by Ahmad Aljarboa, deputy governor of Corporate Support Sector at CITC, and Terry He, CEO of Huawei Tech Investment Saudi Arabia, said a statement by Huawei on Sunday.

According to the statement Huawei will become a strategic partner to CITC in several areas, including collaboration on knowledge exchange, human resource capacity development, and ICT industry.

Huawei will also share its experience and best practices with CITC in the future, including joint trainings for CITC officials focusing on emerging technologies such as AI and cloud, the statement said.

Charles Yang, president of Huawei Middle East, said that the wise leadership that CITC has shown in progressing Saudi Arabia's digital ambitions in line with the kingdom's Vision 2030 is truly commendable.

"We have been privileged to collaborate with CITC on many projects in the past, and look forward to supporting CITC in further enhancing digital infrastructure, nurturing local talent, and promoting the successes of the kingdom's ICT market on an international stage," he added.

Huawei is already a partner of choice for serving telecom operators, government entities and enterprise clients in Saudi Arabia. It offers end-to-end ICT solutions and professional services for telecom operators covering terminals. In 2015, Saudi Arabia's CITC and Huawei signed the MOU for “Seeds for the Future” program which has been under operation for the last five years. Huawei has been operating in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia since 2002, and views the country as a key market regionally and globally.