The founder and head of Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei on Thursday moved to reassure the New Zealand government and businesses that cyber-security was a top priority for his company in supplying ICT equipment.
Huawei CEO Ren Zhengfei, who was in Wellington for talks with Communications Minister Amy Adams, said in a statement that New Zealand was a wonderful, progressive country that actively embraces the introduction of next generation telecoms infrastructure.
Last year, a United States Congress report advised US firms to avoid buying from Huawei over alleged security risks and the Australian government banned Huawei equipment from its National Broadband Network, but Ren's firm is a major supplier for the New Zealand government's nationwide Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB) initiative and Telecom New Zealand's 4G mobile phone network.
"New Zealand is one of Huawei's most important strategic markets and is very valuable to us," Ren said.
"The booming digital economy in New Zealand in recent years will help the ICT industry globally to become more diversified, balanced and healthy. Within such a positive environment, Huawei actively cooperates to create and share strategic benefits with our customers," said Ren.
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