Saudi cultural counsellor takes part in Huawei summit
A group of Arab ambassadors, along with other government representatives in China, traveled to Huawei’s ICT Talent Cultivation Summit last week in Shenzhen, held on the sidelines of the final of Huawei’s ICT Competition. The congregation addressed the need for collaboration in creating a talent ecosystem, and how to align ICT talent development to drive digital transformation, socioeconomic development and achieve national plans and vision targets across the region. At the event, Dr. Fahad Majed F. AlShareef, Saudi cultural counsellor in China, was a key participant in the panel discussion alongside other Middle East officials.
The summit was additionally attended by Abdullah Al-Saadi, Omani ambassador in China and head of the delegation of the envoys of Arab countries in China; Ali Aldhaheri, UAE ambassador in China; Millia Jabbour, Lebanese ambassador in China; Anwar Al-Abdallah, Bahrain ambassador in China; and Diyar Khan, Pakistani consul general in Guangzhou. Each representative took part in the panel discussion, which ran alongside the Huawei ICT Competition Award Ceremony.
Every country that participated in the competition was represented, and the winner of the competition itself was announced during the summit. Each country’s unique challenges and opportunities were raised during a panel titled “ICT talent ecosystem, a key driver of digitalization, socioeconomic development and achieving national plans and visions.” Participants were given the opportunity to discuss how digital transformation will enable Middle East leaders to achieve the targets outlined in their national plans and visions, and the importance of nurturing local talent for achieving digitalization. The key theme that shone through was the need to support programs such as the ICT Competition in order to monitor, understand, and improve talent development initiatives in key markets.
Steven Yi, member of the supervisory board, Huawei Middle East and Africa area president, said: “The ICT Competition is a vitally important global initiative for Huawei, and it has been an honor hosting the ambassadors from the Middle East at this event. We are honored to be the trusted partners of many governmental entities, which trust us to help them in shaping their youth. This will help us and the rising talent to build the region’s future of ICT.”
The summit was attended by participating representatives, universities, students, mentors and other professors. A Q&A session was held at the end of the panel discussion, where students and academics interacted with their ambassadors and discussed the talent ecosystem requirements in their countries, along with the challenges and opportunities related to digitalization.
This year’s competition saw a participation of 14,748 students from across the Middle East, of which 4,915 were selected to take part in the preliminary rounds. Two hundred and fourteen students passed on to the final round, and 39 in total from 13 teams will be traveling to China to compete internationally.