RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA: Huawei Cloud has embarked on a historic journey in Saudi Arabia with the launch of the Huawei Cloud Riyadh Region. This momentous occasion was revealed at the prestigious Huawei Cloud Summit Saudi Arabia 2023, signifying a pivotal step towards fostering digital-led economic growth within the nation.
This Riyadh Region is set to become Huawei Cloud’s cornerstone for serving the Middle East, Central Asia, and Africa, promising cutting-edge, dependable, secure, and sustainable cloud services. This achievement underscores Huawei Cloud’s steadfast commitment to supporting Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, aligning with the nation’s ambitious goals for technological advancement, leadership, and innovation.
H.E. Eng. Haitham bin Abdul Rahman Al-Ohali, Vice Minister at the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) in Saudi Arabia, lauded this momentous achievement: “Huawei is a proud partner in our country’s technological progress, having worked alongside the Ministry, service providers, enterprises, and universities in various collaborative efforts towards digital transformation. We eagerly anticipate the transformative impact the HUAWEI CLOUD Riyadh Region will have on our digital ecosystem, paving the way for new avenues of innovation and growth.”
The Riyadh Region offers numerous advantages for customers, translating global digital transformation expertise into industry excellence, expediting innovation. This region, situated in Riyadh, operates on a 3AZ (availability zone) architecture, guaranteeing highly available and secure cloud services, vital for the stability of various operations. Furthermore, it offers comprehensive cloud services, spanning infrastructure, databases, containers, big data, and AI, tailored to meet the unique requirements of diverse industries.
This Riyadh region’s 3-AZ high-reliability architecture ensures low latency, covering all existing carriers’ networks powered by STC, Zain, and Mobily. Local data storage aligns with local data regulations, reinforcing data security. Huawei Cloud will also introduce 68 cloud services across three categories – data, AI, and cloud-native, further fortifying Saudi Arabia’s digital landscape.
Steven Yi, Senior Vice President of Huawei and President of Huawei Middle East and Central Asia Region, remarked on the occasion: “I’ve cherished numerous unforgettable moments in this extraordinary country. Just yesterday, walking through the newly renovated Diriyah evoked my deep emotions. It brought to mind an old Chinese saying: ‘Build the right nest, and a Phoenix will come.’ The essence is clear: create an inviting environment, and you’ll attract the best. This is undeniably true for Saudi, a nation that consistently attracts top investors.”
Huawei Cloud aims to advance Intelligence for Saudi Arabia, leveraging industry-leading technologies such as the Pangu 3.0 AI model. This model addresses AI adoption challenges, enhancing AI capabilities across sectors like finance, government, manufacturing, and more, ushering in a new era of innovation and accelerating economic diversification.
At the Huawei Cloud Summit Saudi Arabia 2023, the “Saudi Arabia Go Cloud Go Global” plan was unveiled, aiming to connect Chinese and Saudi enterprises internationally, fostering growth and innovation. Drawing from their experience in over 170 countries and regions, Huawei Cloud plans to facilitate Chinese enterprises’ entry into Saudi Arabia and strengthen partnerships with local stakeholders.
Jacqueline Shi, President of Huawei Cloud Global Marketing and Sales Service, emphasized, “Huawei Cloud aims high, aims global, and aims here in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia Region will be our focus in serving the Middle East, Central Asia, and Africa, providing innovative, reliable, secure, and sustainable cloud services. We hope to create a better choice for advancing intelligence. This cloud gives you more choices to stay innovative, inclusive, and open. This cloud will help you succeed in the digital and intelligent era. This cloud is for everyone.”
The commitment to Saudi Arabia extends beyond technology infrastructure. Huawei Cloud pledged to train 200,000 developers in Saudi Arabia over the next five years, foster collaboration with 1,000 local partners, and launch the Huawei Cloud Entrepreneurship Program to support 2,000 startups.
Eric Yang, CEO of Huawei Saudi Arabia, reflected on their journey: “We are proudly launching Huawei Cloud Riyadh Region today. It has been a great journey for us in Saudi Arabia for the last 20+ years. Huawei is a constructor for an intelligent society, a contributor to a thriving economy, and a cultivator of a prosperous talent ecosystem. Towards 2030, we are dedicated to providing ubiquitous connectivity, green energy, pervasive cloud computing, and AI capabilities for Saudi Arabia, unlocking unlimited opportunities in the new digital era.”
Huawei Saudi Arabia, established in 2002, has been a pivotal player in Saudi Arabia’s digital transformation. Over 19 years, Huawei has partnered with regional communication service providers (CSPs) to ensure reliable network assurance for the Hajj pilgrimage without incident and facilitated the rollout of 5G, solidifying Saudi Arabia as a pioneer 5G market. Additionally, Huawei has connected 3.5 million people in rural areas, generated 20,000 local jobs, and nurtured 10,000 ICT talents for Saudi Arabia.
Under its “Everything as a Service” strategy, HUAWEI CLOUD aspires to become the foundation and enabler of industry digitalization, offering services to customers across 170 countries and regions worldwide.
