The Opening Ceremony of Huawei’s “Seeds for the Future”Program was held online on December 4. H.E. Ambassador Yu Hong, Minister of Education H.E. Dato Hamzah Sulaiman, and CEO of Huawei Technologies (Brunei) Mr. Zhang Jianwei attended the forum and delivered remarks. Economic and Commercial Counselor Kang Wen, Deputy Minister of Education Datin Dr. Hjh Romaizah, senior government officials, vice chancellors and principles, students from Brunei universities and colleges also attended the ceremony totaled over 100 people.

Ambassador Yu Hong remarked that despite the globally raging of COVID-19, the program held as scheduled, demonstrating Huawei’s determination to promote Brunei’s talent localization strategy. Emerging digital technologies have developed rapidly, and the digital economy has become the most innovative sector in economic development. China's digital economy leads the world in terms of industry scale, technology level, etc. which has become a major driving force in the world's digital economy. China is the country with the largest scale of value added in the computer communication and other electronic equipment manufacturing industry as well as the export of ICT products. The number of Chinese 5G core patents ranks first in the world, and more than 1 million 5G base stations have been built in China, amounting to more than 70% of those in the world. China has put forward the Global Initiative on Data Security to foster an open, fair, just and non-discriminatory environment for digital development, and has been advocating the world should quicken the development of new types of digital infrastructure, and promote deeper integration of digital technologies with the real economy.

Ambassador Yu Hong pointed out that digital economy cooperation has always been a key area of ASEAN-China collaboration. The ASEAN-China Year of Digital Economy Cooperation and the ASEAN-China Digital Ministers Meeting were well organized. The ASEAN-China Special Summit to Commemorate the 30th Anniversary of ASEAN-China Dialogue Relations was successfully held recently, on which H.E. President Xi Jinping announced that China would launch the ASEAN-China Science, Technology and Innovation Enhancing Program, and would provide 1,000 items of advanced and applicable technology to ASEAN countries and support a program for 300 young scientists from ASEAN countries to come to China for exchanges in the next five years. China also initiated a dialogue on digital governance to deepen innovative application of digital technology. The cooperation between China and ASEAN in the digital field would enter a new phase. 

Ambassador Yu Hong also highlighted that this year marked the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Brunei. The digital economy cooperation between the two countries has also achieved positive results. Huawei Brunei contributed to Brunei’s 3G and 4G internet construction, EVYD Technology contributed to Brunei government’s efforts to set up an AI data-based Pandemic Response Platform and BruHealth APP which functioned outstandingly in Brunei’s fight against COVID-19. The digital economy has become a new highlight of China-Brunei cooperation. 

Ambassador Yu Hong hoped the students take full advantage of the program provided by Huawei and believed that they should not only become the seeds for the future technology progress, but also the seeds for the friendly relations and cooperation between China and Brunei.

Minister of Education Dato Hamzah Sulaiman officially launched “Seeds for the Future” Program, and pointed out that the importance of digital technology for online education was getting notable due to the COVID-19, thus the implementation of “Seeds for the Future” Program is a milestone especially at this moment. Due to the impact of the epidemic, the program was held online last year. With the scaling up of participates, the program received positive feedback from participating students. He spoke highly of the adding of new contents this year, and appreciated the contribution Huawei made to enhancing network accessibility and development. Dato Hamzah Sulaiman also encouraged the students to make full use of the program to gain professional knowledge and hoped that more students would participate the program to acquire knowledge of cutting-edge technology, and enhance their skills and competitiveness.

CEO of Huawei Technologies (Brunei) Mr. Zhang Jianwei said that “Seeds for the Future” is Huawei’s flagship program for corporate social responsibility. Since its launch in 2008, the program has benefited more than 9,000 students from over 130 countries. In 2021, 42 students from five universities of Brunei will participate the program. The CEO extended  thanks to Brunei government for its trust in Huawei and its support for the “Seeds for the Future” Program over the years, and expressed Huawei’s willingness to strengthen the cooperation with relevant universities in Brunei to facilitate training more local ICT talents.