Communications Minister Eyad al-Khatib said during the opening of the Information Technology and Communications Exhibition: “Wherever there are local needs for Internet, the Ministry and Syria Telecom will increase the capacity.”
He also praised the major efforts that the Chinese company Huawei has exerted throughout the years of the war in Syria, saying that their partnership continues to be strategic, important and one of the most important elements and main pillars in the resilience of the Syrian state. He noted the major role of the company in distributing communications equipment to the country.
He added: “We are looking for more work and cooperation with our brothers in the People’s Republic of China, especially after finding solutions to the sanctions that Huawei has recently been placed under.”
The Director of the Commercial Department at Syria Telecom, Fouad Youssef, told Al-Watan that during its participation in the conference the company will present a detailed recommendation of a home service (Fibre Net) that will be launched in a number of provinces. He said that this service would be generalized throughout all provinces in the coming days.
The Buildex Exhibition for Construction and Development also opened in Damascus. The General Director of the Arabian Group for Exhibitions and Conferences, which organized the exhibitions, Alaa Hilal, told Al-Watan that the exhibition was one of the biggest in Syria and had stopped because of the war in 2011, and would launch again in 2020.
He added: “The exhibition has major symbolic value in the minds of Syrians because it was the biggest, most important and oldest exhibition, running continuously for 16 years. Every year in May, the business sector in Syria had an appointment with Buildex. But it stopped with the war. Now its symbolic value has returned in a significant way to the minds of businesspeople, traders and companies, which means a return of normal life to the economy and the business world. Therefore, it being held now has a special symbolism.”
He added: “There is a major challenge for participating foreign companies, in light of the unjust blockade imposed on Syria. In the exhibition’s last session in 2010, there were 50 countries participating, and so we have a real challenge now to encourage companies to participate through agencies or representatives to make the exhibition as large as possible. We are aiming to have 200 participants in the coming session.” He closed, saying: “The exhibition is one of the most important economic activities and plays a positive role in activating the economic cycle and increasing it.”
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
