Huawei to boost Wellington's tech sector
Nicola Willis, National Party candidate for Wellington
Central
Media Release
22 March
2017
Huawei to boost Wellington's tech sector
Wellington's growing tech and innovation sector
will gain significantly from today's investment announcement
by global technology giant Huawei, National’s Wellington
Central candidate Nicola Willis says.
Huawei today
announced $400 million of new investment in New Zealand.
This includes a plan to open an innovation lab at Victoria
University of Wellington and commitments to work with local
tech firms.
"This is a huge boost to Wellington's
tech sector and confirms our place as a global hub for
digital innovation,” Ms Willis
says.
"Wellington's tech sector is growing fast and
we have New Zealand's highest concentration of web and
digital businesses.
"The innovation lab will be at
the cutting edge of tomorrow's tech possibilities like 5G
cell phone networks, big data and the Internet of
things.
"Huawei chose Wellington because we are a
smart place with a track record of turning ideas into
reality.
"This investment means more and better
paying jobs for Wellingtonians. Our tech sector is a magnet
for innovators and ideas people from all over the
world.
“The National-led Government has made it a
priority to invest in our hi-tech industries, so that it is
now one of our fastest growing sectors.
“We’ve
committed $411 million through the Innovative New Zealand
package, and are working to lift total government investment
in science and innovation to $1.6 billion by
2020.
“Only under the leadership of Bill English
and National will Wellington Central have a team that knows
how to grow the economy, invest for future growth, and
ensure we are supporting more Wellingtonians to benefit from
this
growth.”