Huawei’s South Asia Supplier Convention 2024, held at ITC Ratnadipa on 29th November, brought together key partners from Bangladesh, Nepal, the Maldives, and Sri Lanka to explore new opportunities for collaboration and strengthen the region’s partner ecosystem.
The event served as a platform to share Huawei’s strategic vision for the coming years, deliver insights into the rapidly evolving ICT landscape, and recognize the contributions of partners who have played an important role in driving the company’s growth in South Asia.
With a focus on mutual growth, the convention highlighted emerging opportunities in areas such as 5G, AI, cloud computing, and digital power.
Over 140 participants from Bangladesh, Nepal, the Maldives, and Sri Lanka gathered for the Huawei South Asia Supplier Convention 2024.
Themed “Cooperate Together, Win Together,” the convention focused on fostering business exchanges and cooperation between Huawei and its partners. It underscored the importance of mutual growth, with a particular emphasis on future opportunities in emerging fields such as 5G, AI, cloud computing, and digital power.
In his opening message, Huawei South Asia President Pan Junfeng highlighted the release of the Smart South Asia Strategy as an important step in Huawei’s long-term growth.
“With the Smart South Asia Strategy, Huawei is strategically positioned to take the lead in the next decade. In 2025, our business in South Asia is set to grow rapidly, encompassing carrier services, government and enterprise solutions, cloud services, and digital power. These operations span five countries: Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and Bhutan,” he said.
Junfeng also emphasized Huawei’s commitment to its suppliers, stressing the importance of collaboration and shared success. “We must continue to seek more opportunities while delivering services and products that meet the highest quality standards,” he added.
In his welcome speech, Huawei Sri Lanka CEO Zhang Jinze underscored key milestones achieved, with the Dialog-Airtel network merger standing out as one of the most significant.
This year, we have accomplished many important milestones together, and I’d like to emphasize one in particular: completing the Dialog-Airtel network merger in just 100 days. This was no small feat. It required teamwork, expertise, and a shared commitment to success. This project is just one example of how collaboration, focus, and determination can create a win-win situation for all,” he shared.
Expressing optimism about the incumbent government’s vision, Jinze said that the Sri Lankan government’s focus on advancing research and technology as a foundation for digital transformation is truly important.
“The government’s ongoing digitalization efforts are creating exciting opportunities and unlocking new possibilities that drive growth and innovation, benefiting both local and international markets. It’s an open and dynamic environment, and we welcome the new ideas it will bring. In line with this, I want to say that our plans for 2025 encompass several key areas, including telecom equipment, managed services, and new data center projects. With your continued support, I’m confident we can deliver solutions that meet the evolving needs of our customers and help shape a more connected, resilient future for Sri Lanka and beyond,” he concluded.
As a guest keynote speaker, Associate Chief Digital Economy Officer of the Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) of Sri Lanka, Sachindra Samararatne, shared in-depth insights into the ICTA’s and the incumbent government’s initiatives aimed at shaping the country’s digital future. He emphasized that this is a pivotal moment for Sri Lanka, as both professionals and ministries are actively working together to advance the digital economy.
“We, at ICTA, have played a key role in introducing the digital economy to Sri Lanka over the past two years. With the establishment of a dedicated deputy minister and ministries focused on initiating, executing, and implementing this vision, we are now in a stronger position to drive progress. While expressing gratitude, I want to say that Huawei has been alongside the government from day one, contributing to this journey,” Samararatne noted.
Samararatne also presented the vision for Sri Lanka’s ICT sector, highlighting ambitious targets for 2030. He outlined a projection of USD 5 billion in IT sector exports, marking a substantial increase from the current USD 1.2 billion, representing fourfold growth. Alongside this, the workforce in the ICT sector is expected to expand to 200,000, up from 85,000, with an increase in foreign-trained professionals from 17,500 to 27,000.
Additionally, he stressed the importance of creating an energetic startup ecosystem to attract further investments. He added that with the digital economy set to reach USD 15 billion in 2030, driven in large part by e-commerce, there is remarkable potential for growth. Sri Lanka’s e-commerce market, currently valued at USD 1 million, is projected to increase by 15 times.
“These forward-looking initiatives demonstrate Sri Lanka’s commitment to creating a robust digital economy, with a clear roadmap for sustainable growth and development. We invite you to be a part of this journey,” he shared.
The convention also featured a summary of Huawei’s key projects in South Asia for 2024, delivered by Zhu Haojin, Vice President of Huawei South Asia Delivery and Service.
He emphasized the company’s commitment to quality, safety, and environmental standards, as well as providing an overview of major projects for 2025. Some of the key projects highlighted included the Dialog 5G and data center projects, the Mobitel 5G rollout, and several network upgrades across the region.
The event concluded with an emphasis on the importance of collaboration in driving forward the digital transformation of South Asia.