Saudi Arabia welcomes Huawei Cloud

• Huawei Cloud launches Region in Saudi Arabia to serve Middle East, Central Asia and Africa. 
• Huawei will utilize a number of industry-leading technologies to advance intelligence for Saudi Arabia, including Pangu Models 3.0
• The company will train 200,000 developers in Saudi Arabia in the next five years.

Huawei Cloud has been around for several years and has predominantly been serving customers in Asia. While Huawei Cloud’s reach may not be as big as the other dominant cloud players around the world, it has continued to innovate and expand its products and services.

Globally, Amazon Web Services leads the public cloud market, while Alibaba Cloud is the largest cloud provider in China. However, Huawei Cloud has been leading in several other areas. For example, it was named a Customers’ Choice vendor for 2023 on Gartner Peer Insights  ‘Voice of the Customer’ for Cloud Database Management Systems. Huawei Cloud became the world’s only cloud service vendor (CSP) which was named as a Customers’ Choice in this market.

Huawei Cloud has also continued to grow its presence in Asia, with the Southeast Asia region a key focus area. But apart from growth in Asia, Huawei Cloud has also been keeping tabs on the demand for cloud services in Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia.

According to a report published by Credence Research, the Public Cloud Market in the Middle East is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of over 20.5% during the forecast period from 2022 to 2028, to reach around US$10.71 million in 2028. The market growth is a result of the spread of technologies like edge computing, 5G, real-time analytics powered by artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and the internet of things (IoT).

Given the opportunity in the region, Huawei Cloud launched the Huawei Cloud Riyadh Region at the Huawei Cloud Summit Saudi Arabia 2023. This Region will help promote digital-led economic growth in the country. The Riyadh Region will also focus on serving the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa, providing reliable, secure, and sustainable cloud services.

“Huawei is a proud partner in our country’s technological progress, having worked with the Ministry, service providers, enterprises and universities in various collective efforts towards digital transformation. We look forward to the transformative impact the Huawei Cloud Riyadh Region will have on our digital ecosystem, creating new avenues for innovation and growth,” commented H.E. Eng. Haitham bin Abdul Rahman Al-Ohali, Vice Minister at the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) in Saudi Arabia.

The Huawei Cloud Riyadh Region

Huawei Cloud’s Riyadh Region translates Huawei’s global expertise on digital transformation into industry excellence, making innovation easier and faster. Located in Riyadh and through a 3AZ (availability zone) architecture, it will provide highly available and secure cloud services, ensuring the stable operations of various services. Moreover, the Region can provide full-stack cloud services, including infrastructure, databases, containers, big data, and AI services to meet the requirements of various industries.

Based on the 3AZ high-reliability architecture, the Riyadh Region provides low latency, covering all existing carriers’ networks powered by STC, Zain, and Mobily. The local data center will store data in line with applicable data regulations. The company will also launch 68 cloud services in three categories – data, AI, and cloud-native.

In meeting the demand for artificial intelligence, Huawei Cloud will utilize a number of industry-leading technologies to advance artificial intelligence for Saudi Arabia.

These include Pangu Models 3.0, which addresses AI adoption challenges, leveraging industry insights to enhance AI capabilities across sectors like finance, government, manufacturing, and more. Pangu Models 3.0 will usher in a new era of innovation in the Kingdom, while accelerating economic diversification.

Building a tech communitywith Huawei Cloud

At the Huawei Cloud Summit Saudi Arabia 2023, the company also released the “Saudi Arabia Go Cloud Go Global” program to connect Chinese and Saudi enterprises, fostering growth and innovation. The company will use its strong experience of working in more than 170 countries and regions, various industries, advanced technologies, and solutions to help Chinese enterprises enter Saudi Arabia and enhance partnerships with local stakeholders.

To ensure there are sufficient skills in the country, Huawei Cloud will train 200,000 developers in Saudi Arabia in the next five years. It will also build joint solutions with 1,000 local partners and launch the Huawei Cloud Startup Program to help 2,000 startups grow.

“We are proudly launching Huawei Cloud Riyadh Region today. It has been a great journey for us in Saudi Arabia for the last 20 years. Huawei is a constructor for an intelligent society, a contributor to a thriving economy, and a cultivator of a prosperous talent ecosystem. Towards 2030, we will stay dedicated to continuously providing ubiquitous connectivity, green energy, pervasive cloud computing and AI capabilities for Saudi Arabia to unlock the unlimited opportunities of the new digital era,” said Eric Yang, CEO of Huawei Saudi Arabia.

Founded in 2002, Huawei Saudi Arabia has played a pivotal role in the digital transformation of the country. Huawei has also collaborated with regional communication service providers (CSPs) to provide reliable network assurance for the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.

Huawei supported the roll-out of 5G in Saudi Arabia, enabling the country to become one of the world’s pioneer 5G markets. In addition, Huawei has helped connect 3.5 million people in rural areas, created 20,000 local jobs, and cultivated 10,000 ICT talents for Saudi Arabia.

The US has expressed concerns about the progress of Huawei in Saudi Arabia. They appear to be going unheard.

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