Huawei is currently in negotiations with the Ministry of Investment to establish a factory for assembling smartphones within the Suez Canal Area, said Senior Manager of Public Relations and Government Affairs Department at Huawei Egypt, Hala Aranda. Aranda said the final agreement has not yet been reached; however, the Egyptian government promised to be a strategic partner in implementing projects in the Suez Canal Area. The factory is planned to be a centre for producing smartphones to export to the African market and the Arab region. In another context, NOC Manager for the multi-vendor Mobinil Project at Huawei Technologies, Ahmed Haikal, said the company provides operation and management services for 50% of Mobinil networks, 2,870 mobile towers in Greater Cairo, the North Coast, and a significant part of the Red Sea area, while competing companies acquire the remaining share in Mobinil's mobile towers. Huawei acquired 50% of Vodafone's mobile towers as well, providing the vendor with operation and management services. An agreement was signed with Chinese company Huawei to provide the Egyptian Ministry of Electricity with 10m smart electricity metres. The agreement was signed during the Economic Summit that was held in Sharm El-Sheikh last March. An increase in the number of units was agreed upon, in cooperation with local manufacturers. This would help to eliminate illegal electricity consumption. Moreover, a memorandum of understanding was signed to supply the needed components for manufacturing the smart metres, while a number of locally manufactured components will also be used. The funding required for manufacturing will be provided in concessional terms.
