Huawei to help Spanish ancient city become 'smart'

MADRID - Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei has signed a memorandum of understanding with the city of Vila-real in eastern Spain to help transform the ancient city into a "smart city".

The aim of the agreement was to "digitally transform the city" with cutting-edge technologies, such as those involving cloud storage, big data and the internet of things, Huawei said in a statement published on Wednesday.

The agreement was made public in the wake of the Mobile World Congress held in Barcelona recently.

"Our aim is for Spain to lead the digital transformation of European cities. The signing of this agreement is another step in us achieving this objective and to consolidate our role as a strategic partner in the digital transformation of the region," explained Jin Yong, CEO of Huawei Spain.

"At Huawei we have made an important effort in the past 18 years to promote the development of telecommunications and our commitment is to continue working to collaborate in the building of a digital future for Spain," he added.

Vila-real City Deputy Mayor Francisco Valverde Fortes said that the accord opened a new era for the city of over 50,000 inhabitants.

"This is very important for our city, which has over 700 years of history. We are very proud to have Huawei as a new partner, and we will do everything possible to ensure the agreement we have signed today will benefit the citizens of Vila-real," he said.