Press Release

Press Release

World class names in the digital communications industry to participate in SAMENA Council's Leaders' Summit

UAE, April, 2017: With the official patronage of Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (TRA) of the UAE, SAMENA Telecommunications Council's much-awaited Leaders' Summit will be held on April 30th, hosted by Huawei Middle East for the fourth consecutive year, and sponsored by Nokia, Ericsson, du and Etisalat. The one-day high-profile leadership event is considered one of the SAMENA regional industry's most prestigious gatherings of government and private-sector leaders, with ministers, heads of regulatory authorities, chairmen and CEOs of the largest companies operating within and outside of the SAMENA region actively taking part both as attendees and participants in the Leader's Summit's core discussions and bi-lateral stakeholder meetings.

To be held this year with the participation of prominent personalities in telecom and ICT from the private and government sectors, influencers, public-policy specialists, technologists, investors, and representatives from across the digital ecosystem, the Leaders' Summit will focus on “Aligning Visions to Meet the Demands of The Digital World”. This will be achieved through exclusive, by-invitation-only bi-lateral stakeholder meetings and two highly inclusive panel discussions, focusing on effectively implementing Digital for efficient business enablement, and on building a digital-services ecosystem supported by a sustainable, progressive industry environment.

“As we enter a fully connected era, digital infrastructure continues to facilitate economic growth,” said Charles Yang, President of Huawei Middle East. “The telecoms industry is at a crucial stage of digital transformation as new technologies emerge to drive a high quality user experience. The digital age is dawning and the potential opportunities for the telecoms industry, which is the primary enabler of industry digitization, are beyond our imagination. Our participation in SAMENA Council's Leaders' Summit is a reflection of Huawei’s keenness to listen, share and contribute to the telecom industry by sharing its Open ROADS strategy for a Better Connected World, in addition to cloudification as the key driver and future success trend of digital transformation, thus we have introduced the “All Cloud” strategy, which focuses on delivering a ROADS experience, to shape the cloud, and win the future.”

Commenting on the participation at Telecom Leaders’ Summit, Bernard Najm, head of the Middle East Market Unit at Nokia, said “We are excited to participate with SAMENA Council for this years' Leaders' Summit and look forward to contributing to the discussions, centered on digital implementation and on building a sustainable digital ecosystem. SAMENA Council is an excellent platform for open collaboration and dialogue about regional priorities, and key policy and regulatory matters that impact our industry.”
Rafiah Ibrahim, President and Head of Ericsson Middle East and Africa, stated that "With the pace of change faster than ever, the world is witnessing digitization of entire industries that is really changing the game for all. We are in the middle of this digital shift with ICT being the driving force behind the digitization of services and entire business models. At this year's Samena's Leadership Summit, we look forward to actively participate and discuss with our key partners, policymakers and regulators integrated ICT strategies for sustainable digital transformation."

“The telecom sector regionally is undergoing massive changes in general, Digitalization particularly holds an important key to the continued success of this vital sector. We are proud to collaborate with SAMENA Council to find engaging new ways to bolster public-private co-operation and new, refreshing ways to work together and making this digital transformation possible, “said CEO of du, Osman Sultan. ”As an active member of SAMENA, du will share its experiences on digital implementation, particularly from the cloud communications perspective", he added.

"Etisalat's sponsorship of the Leaders' Summit is just a re-affirmation of the need to have a productive dialogue. Both innovation and digital development require effective policy-making, for which participation of all players is crucial", said Dr. Ahmed Bin Ali , Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications.

CEO of SAMENA Council, Bocar BA, "Given the participation of regulatory and ministerial leadership from around the region and beyond, apart from a high number of private-sector leaders’ who will participate, we have a wonderful and challenging day ahead on April 30th. I strongly hope that this year's Leaders' Summit will be a most rewarding experience for our leaders and the delegates who are traveling from around the world to be among us in Dubai."

Effective implementation of digital technologies, especially network virtualization and cloud communications, can enable operators to reduce costs, have better flexibility to deliver cloud-based digital services to market quicker, improve the customer experience, and directly contribute to digital acceleration and adoption. Similarly, by building a cloud-enabled ecosystem that is open and collaborative, deploying a digital infrastructure becomes simplified and unified, ensuring that various technologies and services can work together seamlessly for the benefit of all end users.

The SAMENA Leaders’ Summit is an annual, discussion-centric private and government sector leaders' gathering, composed of various bi-lateral meetings held among stakeholders in a world-class setting. Bocar BA added that “Aligning Visions to Meet the Demands of The Digital World”, this year’s edition focuses on aligning stakeholders towards a common vision to enable a true, regional digital economy. Its aim is to encourage industry leaders to consider an incentivized, inclusive business environment where digitization, network virtualization solutions and cloud communications, as well as citizen-centric digital services, work to accelerate digital adoption and enable a regional digital economy. The Summit will provide an opportunity for supporting the creation of a business-conducive environment for telecom operators and for exploring new avenues of progressive stakeholder collaboration for the benefit of the industry and its ultimate stakeholders in the SAMENA region - the consumers and the citizens.

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About SAMENA Telecommunications Council
SAMENA Telecommunications Council is South Asia - Middle East - North Africa (SAMENA) region’s premier industry association of telecom operators and service providers. SAMENA Council voices network operators’ issues and needs to regulators, policymakers, and international institutions. The largest regional telecom groups, including Saudi Telecom, Etisalat, Batelco, Ooredoo, Viva Kuwait, Orange Jordan, Turk Telekom, Zain, Omantel, among other leading operators and technology companies, are a part of the Council’s leadership. SAMENA Council is a sector development partner to the private and the public sectors, and believes in bringing all stakeholders closer together to help create a sustainable business environment for the industry, and to accelerate digital development in regional economies.

SAMENA Council is contributing to the understanding of cross-stakeholder priorities within the Public and the Private sectors. The Council has created a unique regional position as the regulatory reach and operator advocacy organization, with institution-level engagements with leading private and public-sector organizations. SAMENA Council was founded in 2006. In February 2016, Saudi Telecom Company, represented by Dr. Khaled Biyari, became the chairman of the Board of SAMENA Council.

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