China-based telecoms company Huawei has partnered with the Independent Development Trust (IDT) to send 10 local ICT students to China on an educational trip.
The students will be introduced to advanced telecommunications technology between 9 July and 19 July through the Huawei Student Abroad Project (HSAP). The IDT is a South African development management agency.
During the 10-day visit, the final year university students will interact with their counterparts at Shenzhen University, and visit the China Telecoms demo site and the Huawei Learning centre.
Chinese companies based in SA have recently come under fire for bringing in foreign nationals to complete contracts, instead of transferring skills to local workers.
The Congress of SA Trade Unions previously said South African workers should be employed, and charged that Chinese companies are exploiting Chinese workers by paying them a lower wage.
Last week, Huawei's competitor, ZTE's, offices across the country were raided by law enforcement authorities on suspicions the company was bringing in Chinese workers without proper documentation. The swoops led to the detention of 18 Chinese nationals. This follows the arrest last year of 16 ZTE staff members.
Vital importance
“Skills and technology transfer remain at the top of the agenda for Huawei,” says Huawei Africa COO Peng Song.
In 2010, Huawei increased its investment in research and development, spending R17.6 billion. It has 20 research institutes in countries such as the US, Germany, Sweden, Russia, India and China, as well as more than 20 joint innovation centres.
In Africa, the company has two research and development centres, one in SA and the other in Nigeria. It also has six training centres on the continent, in SA, Kenya, Tunisia, Egypt, Angola and Nigeria.
IDT CEO Thembi Nwedamutswu explains the company, established 21 years ago, has been involved in several projects that aim to improve the quality of life of many underprivileged South Africans. “We believe that the HSAP will be as beneficial to our youth.”
Huawei's products and solutions have been deployed in over 140 countries, which combined account for more than a third of the globe's estimated six billion people.
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