Zain Group, the leading mobile telecom innovator in eight markets across the Middle East and Africa, has been selected by Huawei, a leading global provider of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and smart devices, to become a strategic partner in the offering of HUAWEI CLOUD services in Kuwait and across the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA).
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two companies was signed during a two-day strategy summit held in Shanghai, China where Zain Group executive management met counterparts from Huawei to discuss a range of topics related to establishing additional areas of potential cooperation.
The agreement will see HUAWEI CLOUD services initially launched in Kuwait and across Middle East, with a wide range of new offerings being made available to businesses and consumers alike.
Commenting on the entering the public cloud MoU with Huawei, Zain Group Vice-Chairman and CEO Bader Al-Kharafi said, "This agreement bolsters Zain's efforts in playing a key role in the ‘New Kuwait 2035' national development plan as the deployment of public cloud services unlocks many opportunities for driving business growth and efficiency, as well as stimulating competition and innovation. It also enhances our ambitions of becoming the operator of choice for governments and enterprises of all sizes across our footprint."
Charles Yang, President of Huawei Middle East commented, "Public cloud is the cornerstone of digital transformation, I look forward to promoting HUAWEI CLOUD across the MENA with Zain."
Zain and Huawei discussed other topics during their summit in Shanghai, including each company's respective technology roadmap given the introduction of 5G in the MENA region as early as next year.
The companies assessed the expected business cases for 5G in the region, including its impact on IoT, mobility, connectivity, healthcare, government; and other essential sectors. Zain is on track to have its operations in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia will be the first to launch 5G commercially.