Huawei hosts Dublin Chamber of Commerce delegates in first visit to Shenzhen headquarters in China

Huawei today hosted representatives from the Dublin Chamber of Commerce during the group’s first ever visit to the company’s Shenzhen headquarters in China.

The Irish business delegation of over 20 companies, with representatives from Grant Thornton, AIB, Bank of Ireland, Vodafone, Arthur Cox, Tourism Ireland, PWC and many others, enjoyed a tour of the company facilities  including a showcase of the latest cutting-edge technologies being developed by the world’s leading ICT solutions company. With Huawei R&D investment in Ireland now amounting to nearly €30 million, business in the country continues to thrive as Huawei works to roll-out high-speed broadband, expand fibre and 5G technologies. Building on this foundation, the creation of new and deeper business links between both Ireland and China was one of the key issues on the agenda, as Huawei also provided an overview of its business globally and its R&D operations in Ireland, which now employ 170+ people in Dublin, Athlone and Cork.

Jijay Shen, CEO of Huawei Ireland, said: “It’s been extremely positive and valuable to host Mary Rose Burke, Brendan Foster, Anne O’Leary and the rest of the Dublin Chamber of Commerce delegation today to share common ground and discuss ways of further expanding business links between Ireland and Huawei. Ireland is the most open and level market in which Huawei operates and Huawei Ireland have continuously invested in Ireland’s telecommunication market for the past 15 years. Intelligent connectivity with fiber and 5G technologies have already begun and will empower the market of mobile network and broadband, AI, IOT and cloud.  Our products and services now serve over two million people across the country.

Shen added, “On behalf of Huawei, I would like to thank all the delegates for taking the time to visit our facilities today, which I hope has given Dublin Chamber of Commerce an added insight into our business and operations globally, especially in Ireland.”

Huawei is also involved in a number of research partnerships in Ireland, including a collaboration with Trinity College Dublin on Video Intelligence. The company’s cooperation with third-level institutions also includes Dublin City University, University College Dublin and University College Cork in emerging areas such as AI.  In addition, Huawei’s flagship CSR programme, ‘Seeds for the Future’, has hosted 42 Irish STEM undergraduates in China since 2015, where they receive cultural, business and ICT insights.  This programme will continue in Summer 2019 and will see the company host another Irish student group in China.

The Chief Executive Officer of Dublin Chamber of Commerce, Mary Rose Burke said: “Our visit today provides a unique opportunity for us to get a better understanding of the operations behind the global leader in ICT. There are already very strong synergies between Ireland and Huawei that will enable us to share the knowledge and skills necessary to drive two-way trade and investment links in key areas and over the past 2 years, we’ve also welcomed more than 20 delegations from China. We expect to see an ongoing increase in the hunger of Irish firms to learn about and explore new markets abroad, in particular in China, and I very much thank Huawei for hosting us here today.”