Mr. Guo Ping, Huawei’s Rotating Chairman, spoke about rising digital transformation and its positive impact on GCC at the 5th China-Arab States Expo being held this week. He highlighted this decisive role of information and communications technology (ICT) emphasizing the critical role in driving the Arab world’s socio-economic growth and growing the region’s digital economy.
“The increased presence of digital infrastructure is positively impacting the Arab world,” confirmed Guo. The GSMA expects the MENA region to spend USD70 billion on telecom infrastructure between 2019 and 2025, according to the CEO. Meanwhile, according to the World Bank, embracing technology such as 5G, AI, cloud, and other rapidly expanding fields has enabled economies in the GCC alone to return to a predicted aggregate growth rate of 2.2 percent in 2021.
“Connectivity and computing are becoming deeply integrated with all industries and are creating new value. The development of advanced ICT solutions is already proving to be an enabler of economic recovery following the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. New digital applications are also helping to reduce carbon emissions in various industries as per Arab nations’ wider developmental plans. Digital technologies have now become the cornerstone of the intelligent world—and the driver behind its future development in the region,” noted Guo.
Arab countries, in particular, have been among the first to deploy 5G infrastructure globally. The GCC area has been in the forefront of deploying 5G and other technologies that will enable the Fourth Industrial Revolution. According to Guo, the use of these technologies has radically altered industries such as education, healthcare, and transportation. These industries are progressively becoming more intelligent.
“To this end, Huawei is committed to knowledge exchange with partners across the Arab world, leveraging the latest technologies to contribute to their ambitious national visons. I sincerely hope that industry partners and policymakers in the region can collaborate in their efforts to accelerate the deployment of digital infrastructure. Together, we can build a more intelligent, interconnected, and low-carbon world,” Guo concluded.
