THE Deputy Chief Executive of Huawei Tanzania, Mr Tao Mian Tuesday paid a courtesy call to Minister of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation Dr Stergomena Tax in a talk that culminated in the latter hailing the investor for their technological advancements and sharing with Tanzanians.
In her speech, she further commended the company for investing in Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) in the country, especially through their projects which distribute digital services in rural areas.
The Minister further said, "Huawei is a big company and we appreciate your presence in this country. Information and Communication Technology is one of the priorities of the government led by President Samia Suluhu Hassan.
So we will continue to cooperate with you, especially in providing digital services in villages and colleges so that we can finally achieve our dream of becoming a digital hub."
In response, Mr Mian explained that in the country the company has created more than 1000 jobs, where more than 70 per cent of them are for Tanzanians.
He added: "Likewise, the company cooperates with more than 70 local companies, more than 2000 IT engineers across the country as well as more than 19 colleges in the country.
In addition, the company conducts IT training for more than 2000 students, serving more than 75 per cent of Tanzanians and it has been a major contributor to the construction of IT infrastructures in the country.
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"We are satisfied with the support of our company here in Tanzania and we promise to continue working to ensure that digital services reach many citizens at the same time, especially those in rural areas," said Mr Mian.
He also explained to Dr Tax the ambitious plan to improve IT communication in rural areas, noting that it is part of the cooperation agreement signed between Tanzania and China and expected to be implemented by the company.
In the scheme, there will be a total of 19 priority projects including the improvement of rural communication and electricity supply in North Eastern Tanzania as well as 9 support projects that will be implemented in collaboration with the Vocational Education Authority (VETA) and Zanzibar Hospital.
Huawei Tanzania, which has invested for more than 15 years in the country, is collaborating with the Tanzania Telecommunications Company (TTCL) to distribute the national telecommunication network and enable the digital services to be easily available throughout the country, where so far the network has spread for more than 15,000 kilometres the whole country.
