Huawei Connects 90 Million Worldwide Digitally... Experimenting with an 'Inclusive Economy'

China's largest telecommunications equipment company, Huawei, is accelerating its 'inclusive economy' initiative that connects developing countries and rural areas through digital technology.

On the 21st, Huawei held the 3rd 'Sustainable Development (CSD) Forum,' connecting Tengchong City in Yunnan Province, Dongguan Campus in Guangdong Province, Pakistan, Italy, and other locations via dual live broadcast. At the forum, Huawei announced that over the past year, from October last year to last month, it has provided digital technology to connect approximately 90 million people in marginalized areas across about 80 countries worldwide to society.

On the 21st, the 'Sustainable Development Forum' was broadcast live from two locations in Hexun, Tengchong City, Yunnan Province, China. (Photo by Kim Hyunjung)

At the opening speech, Liang Hua, Chairman of Huawei's Board of Directors, emphasized, "Next-generation digital infrastructure such as connectivity and computing power is crucial for driving socio-economic development," adding, "The integrated development and application of digital technologies such as 5G, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and cloud computing are transforming people's lifestyles and production methods."

Chairman Liang continued, "Over the past 30 years, Huawei has dedicated itself to innovation in information and communication technology and global popularization, resulting in the construction of more than 1,500 networks with operators, supporting connectivity for over 3 billion people in more than 170 countries and regions."

As part of its sustainable development plan, Huawei has been promoting the 'TECH4ALL - Digital Inclusion' project since 2019. The company set a goal to connect 120 million people in 80 countries through digital technology by 2025. Applying the announced achievement of 90 million people, the current achievement rate stands at approximately 75%. According to the ITU, about 2.6 billion people, mostly in developing countries and marginalized rural areas, remain unconnected to the internet.

Huawei collaborated with the Ghanaian government to provide voice and data services to 3.5 million people in 172 rural areas, expanding service coverage from 83% to 95% of all regions in Ghana. In Gokina village, Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, digital technology support has enabled remote medical assistance.

Yuxi in Yunnan Province is also a representative project site. Although this area is a remote region located 650 km west of the provincial capital Kunming, it has access to ultra-high-speed broadband networks. Through WeChat, China's representative messenger, residents can find directions, check bus routes, and search for restaurants in real time. Additionally, solar panels and smartphone chargers have been installed on benches, and drinking fountains with real-time water quality monitoring have been set up. Lei Lei, Director of Yunnan Operations, introduced, "Considering the mountainous terrain and scattered villages, we jointly developed network solutions with local telecom operators to enable network usage."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.