President Dr. Irfaan Ali, whose official visit to China will see him meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping, has met with officials of Chinese technology company Huawei, and it has been confirmed that an information and communication technology (ICT) college and research center will be set up in Guyana.
According to President Ali while providing an update on his bilateral China trip, he visited Huawei’s Shanghai Research Centre and met with that company’s senior Vice President Jeff Wang on Wednesday. After a tour of the facility, the two officials discussed a number of areas for cooperation, including the establishment of an ICT college in Guyana.
President Ali, who is accompanied on his trip by representatives of the local Private Sector, also discussed the Chinese company sending a technical team to assess needs of the Private Sector in Guyana.
Huawei is no stranger to Guyana. Back in 2021, President Ali met with an executive team from Huawei at the Office of the President. The visitors had included Huawei’s President for Central America and the Caribbean, Cheng Peng; the Vice President for Latin America, Xue Feng; and CEO for the Caribbean office, Jin Zhefeng.
That same year, Huawei had also donated 1000 internet boxes (500 for indoor use and 500 for outdoor use) that are capable of transferring 4G and 5G networks outdoors at over 300 metres, and just below 100 metres indoors, to more than 100 users at a time.
The visit has its genesis in Guyana’s efforts to deepen its international diplomacy. In 2022, Guyana and China observed 50 years of established diplomatic ties between the two countries. On that occasion, President Ali had noted that Chinese were not only contributors to Guyana’s development, but were also part of the country’s cultural heritage.
“Relations between Guyana and the People’s Republic of China are imperishable. Inseparable ties with China have brought tremendous development gains, have brought our people closer together,” President Ali had said.
Further, the Guyanese leader had outlined that cooperation been the two countries straddled almost all areas of national development, including agriculture, culture, defence cooperation, education, health, information communication technology, infrastructural development, private investment, security, sport, trade, and transportation.
During his ongoing visit, President Ali is expected to have talks to advance cooperation in these and new areas, and would be one of several foreign leaders who will attend the opening ceremony of the 31st summer edition of the FISU World University Games in Chengdu, southwest China’s Sichuan Province, from July 27 to 28.
Chinese President Xi Jinping would attend the opening ceremony, and would also hold a state banquet and host bilateral events for the foreign leaders visiting China.
Among the other foreign leaders who would be present are Indonesia President Joko Widodo, Mauritania President Mohamed Ould Cheikh Ghazouani, Burundi President Evariste Ndayishimiye, Georgia Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, and Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka.
