Mauritian president commends Huawei for contributing to regional digitalization

PORT LOUIS, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Mauritian President Prithvirajsing Roopun commended here on Thursday the Chinese technology firm Huawei for enhancing knowledge transfer in the information and communications technology (ICT) industry and encouraging regional digitalization.

At an awarding ceremony of the Huawei ICT Competition and the graduation ceremony of the "Seeds for the Future" Program, the Mauritian president said this program shall contribute to building an ICT talent pool, enhancing knowledge transfer, promoting students' interest in the ICT and telecommunication industry, and encouraging regional digitalization and community development.

Citing the 2022 Global Innovation Index, Roopun recalled that Mauritius secured the 45th position globally for its performance and retained its first position within the Sub-Saharan Africa Region, underlining that the country was "proactive" in promoting high-quality research in emerging technologies.

"I am glad to see global players like Huawei supporting the national initiative of creating talent by training our workforce and increasing their employability," he noted, wishing to "encourage such collaborative work between the private-public sector and civil society to empower the next generation of talent."

This year marks the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Mauritius and China. While thanking the "unflinching" support of China in the sustainable socio-economic development of Mauritius, he wished to "explore innovative ways of expanding and solidifying our cooperation and deepen our friendship and mutual trust."

On the same occasion, Yang Chen, vice president of Huawei Southern Africa, said the firm's goal is to provide at least 1,000 opportunities to Mauritian digital talents every year through the program called "DigiTalent", adding that Huawei also intended to meet local needs of digital skills in Mauritius, through "government digital capacity building, ICT practitioners' upskilling, young ICT talent developing and general digital literacy promoting."

Due to Huawei's commitment to ICT talent cultivation, and significant presence on campus through multiple upskilling programs, a record number of students have registered for the training program. Among the 180 engineering students in Mauritius who have participated in the program, half have secured a job at Huawei.