PHOTO: AFP

ISLAMABAD: Huawei, a leading Chinese mobile phone company, will invest $100 million in Pakistan this year, which envisaged a technical support centre along with the regional headquarters in Islamabad, a top official of the Huawei Group announced on Wednesday.



Huawei Group Vice President Mark Xueman said Pakistan is a strategic market therefore the company will set up regional headquarters in Islamabad at a cost of $55 million that will create job opportunities for young engineers from the country.



Mark Xueman called on Planning and Development Minister Makhdum Khsuro Bakhtyar, for talks, which were also attended by Planning Secretary Zafar Hasan and China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Project Director Hassan Daud.



“Huawei will also invest $15 million in its technical support centre in Pakistan and it will also hire more workforce for it, taking the number of its staff from 600 to 800 this year,” Xueman told the minister. “Huawei is eager to initiate more projects in Pakistan on grant funding from Chinese government.”



Bakhtyar, while appreciating Huawei's continued engagement in Pakistan, said that the leading technological company could support Pakistan in developing and upgrading of information technology (IT) sector of Pakistan.



He noted that Huawei has 25% share in the mobile industry of Pakistan and is also the top tax-paying Chinese company in the country. He lauded Huawei's engagement with the Higher Education Commission (HEC) for the smart schools project.



The minister underlined the need for exploring new business models for future projects and joint ventures in Pakistan. “Huawei can contribute to the government's e-governance initiative as well in centralising data to improve efficiency and productivity,” he told the Chinese delegation.



The minister opined that Huawei could support IT start-up projects in Pakistan to benefit the youth in this important sector. He assured the Huawei Group of his ministry's all possible cooperation in the future joint ventures.