Etisalat, EXIM and Huawei sign MoU for strategic cooperation

UAE telecom operator Etisalat, the Export-Import Bank of China and Huawei International have announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for Strategic Cooperation, encompassing Etisalat's entire footprint in 18 countries.

Under the terms of the agreement, Huawei and Etisalat will continue to work together to provide innovative new technologies and services across Middle East, Africa and Asia to enrich people's lives with emerging telecom technologies; and China EXIM Bank will extend finance support to the cooperation of the two companies.

The MoU was signed by Nasser bin Obood, Etisalat Acting/Chief Executive Officer; Yuan Xingyong, Assistant President China EXIM Bank; and Ji Ping, the Executive Vice-President of Huawei, amongst other dignitaries and business leaders from the UAE and China.

The signing ceremony took place at the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi.

Commenting on the occasion, bin Obood said: "Etisalat has established a reputation within the telecom community for continuously innovating and identifying new ways of providing customers an unparalleled telecommunication experience."

"Through this strategy, Etisalat touches every sphere of our customers' lives and this helps maintain our leadership across our markets.

"This partnership is another demonstration of Etisalat's commitment to provide the latest technologies to its customers and to help develop ICT across the entire region and countries we operate in," he said.

Bin Obood said that through this agreement, Etisalat and Huawei will share the latest best practice covering telecommunication industry trends, including intelligent management of networks, cloud computing and applications.

"In the past eight years, the cooperation between Etisalat and Huawei has witnessed significant growth and success. From the first 3G network deployed in MENA in 2003, Etisalat and Huawei have since moved on to collaborate on a global perspective by cooperating to build and expand Etisalat's networks in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Egypt, Tanzania, Nigeria, Afghanistan," he said.

Yuan Xingyong, the Assistant President of the Export-Import Bank of China, said signing of this MOU will not only contribute to economic and trade cooperation between the two countries, but will also open a new chapter for cooperation between the three parties to this MOU.