Huawei to establish European cloud hub in Ireland, adding 200 jobs

Huawei is to create up to 200 additional jobs in Ireland as part of a €150 million investment in establishing a European cloud services hub here.

Some 60 of the jobs, which include technology-focused roles, sales, research and support, will be filled in the next two years, with the remainder in place by 2027.

The Irish base is the first of the Chinese company’s cloud hubs in Europe and will support customers across the Continent. It will also support Irish enterprises that want to expand into new global markets, providing a secure, compliant and sustainable cloud platform.

The new services will support SME and start-up digitalisation, offering customers cloud credits, technical support and access to international venture-capital networks to accelerate digitalisation and support expansion into global and Asian markets, the company said.

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Huawei’s cloud services will be provided in partnership with local groups, in keeping with its “by local, for local” commitment, including using co-located data centres, rather than constructing its own. Talks are already under way with potential partners with existing facilities here, skirting any potential delays that planning permission for new data centres could present. The company also plans to introduce sustainable high tech and green data centre solutions to ensure the services are provided in a sustainable manner.

“Huawei has always viewed Europe as a strategic market. We would like to deepen our roots here,” said Jacqueline Shi, president of Huawei Cloud’s Global Marketing and Sales Service. “Ireland has a well developed business environment. It’s open, it’s vital and it’s very active. It’s open to all business, like a level playing field.”

Huawei currently employs 510 people in Ireland directly.

The Chinese company plans to initially focus on Ireland before moving into other European markets, helping Irish enterprises to expand into new global markets, by providing a platform for growth and development. “We hope to serve more European customers and enterprises based on the first service point that we open in Ireland,” she said.

The announcement was made at the company’s Connect event in Paris.

Tony Yangxu, chief executive of Huawei Ireland, said the Republic was strategically important to the global deployment of Huawei Cloud. “It offers innovative Irish and European enterprises the opportunity to access new markets and potentially reach global customers. Digitalisation represents the biggest opportunity for all industries over the next decade, and it is set to supercharge the cloud sector.”

Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade & Employment Leo Varadkar welcomed the new investment, describing it as “significant” and an “endorsement” of the State as an enterprise-friendly environment. “Huawei is expanding its portfolio of services in Ireland with this investment, which will substantially enhance our thriving technology ecosystem.”

The investment is being supported by IDA Ireland with its chief executive Martin Shanahan saying this latest expansion “further positions Ireland as an important hub” for Huawei’s European and global operations, and was “clear evidence of the company’s continued commitment to this country”.