John Brumby, Alexander Downer and John Lord have been announced as independent Directors to sit on Huawei Australia's newly-established Board of Directors. In the latest step for Huawei's localisation strategy, the announcement marks the first time Huawei has created a local Board with three independent Directors anywhere in the world. The Board will be charged with overseeing Huawei's local strategy and developing further inroads into the Australian market.
"Huawei is now a major player in the Australian market, so the formation of a local Board was a natural step for our business," said Huawei Corporate Affairs Director Jeremy Mitchell. "The three independent Board Directors will bring unparalleled experience in public administration and business, and will play a central role in steering Huawei's Australian operations, as well as advancing Huawei's business proposition to industry and Government."
The full Board will be comprised of the three independent Australian Directors, alongside Huawei Australia CEO Mr. Guo Fulin, Huawei South Pacific President Mr. Jeff Liu, and two members from Huawei's global Board: global Director Ms. Chen Lifang, and global Executive Director Mr. Li Jie. John Lord will act as Chairman of the Board.
"This is ideal timing for Huawei to create a local Board," said Chairman John Lord, a professional Director and current Chairman of DMS Maritime Services. "The company has now grown to a point where it is amongst the top telecoms vendors both locally and globally, and the Australian Board will ensure Huawei continues on that growth trajectory."
The Board will meet in Australia and at Huawei's global headquarters in Shenzhen, China.
"At a time when Australia's business relationships with China are more important thanever, Huawei has made an important investment in the Australian market by creating this local Board," said Alexander Downer. "80% of Huawei staff are now locals, and the technological innovation pouring out of Huawei's global R&D centres will have a positive impact on telecommunications in Australia."
"Having worked with Huawei to commit $250,000 towards the Next Generation Technology Training Centre with RMIT University, Huawei showed it was willing to train local students and tackle Australia's ICT skills shortage," said Mr Brumby. "Huawei has a lot to contribute to Australia's ICT sector and I'm confident that the local Board will establish a strong foundation for its long-term success."
Huawei now partners with all major Australian operators including Vodafone, Optus, vividwireless, Telstra, AAPT, Primus, TPG, and more. Huawei has also forged partnerships with Australian Universities including RMIT to create a Next-Generation Technology Training Centre, as well as supplying fibre-optic broadband technology to the University of Melbourne's Institute for a Broadband Enabled Society (IBES).
"Huawei has made great inroads into the Australian market and has built strong business relationships with all of our partners, whether they are telecoms operators, enterprise customers, universities, or government organisations. The local Board will help us to further familiarise our partners and customers with Huawei's business," Mr Mitchell said. "This is a vote of confidence in the strength of the Australia-China business relationship, with one of China's largest privately-owned companies making Australia a pivotal part of its future business strategy."
Huawei's Australian business has grown substantially since the company opened its first office in Chatswood with just 20 staff in 2004. Over 80% of Huawei staff are now locals, with staff numbers set to double from 300 at the end of 2010 to more than 600 by the end of 2011.
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