Huawei Kicks Off Seasonal Finals for Seeds for Future 2024 With 8 Pakistani Students

The regional finals of the prestigious Seeds for the Future program for university students from the Middle East (ME) and Central Asia (CA) organized by Huawei commenced in Pakistan.

The program comes in collaboration with the Ministry of Digital Technologies of Uzbekistan, the IT Education Association, and telecom, regulatory, labor authorities, and vocational training bodies.

The program’s opening ceremony, held at the Ministry of Digital Technologies, saw illustrious senior government officials and industry leaders, highlighting the event’s significance.

The week-long event brings together university students from across the Middle East and Central Asia, to enhance knowledge, foster collaboration, drive global digital inclusion, and develop global Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) talent.

This year’s edition of the competition will see the participation of around 150 students from leading universities representing 14 countries in the region, including Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Uzbekistan.

This year 8 students from Pakistan have reached Uzbekistan to take part in this prestigious event. Areeba Faheem and Muhammad Ahmad from Comsats, Abtaal Aatif and Isaam Ansari from FAST-NU, Haider Irfan and Mian Akbar Jan from GIKI, Zahra Nawaz from UET Taxila and Asfandyar Jamali from NUST.

At the event, Sherzod Shermatov, Minister of Digital Technologies of Uzbekistan, delivered the opening address welcoming the young talents and dignitaries saying:

The launch of the Seeds for the Future today is one of the greatest steps towards the expansion of global collaboration in ICT field. We are glad to have a partner like Huawei that understands the need to nurture digital talents and create an advanced platform for building a digital and green world.

Commenting on the program’s launch, Shunli Wang, Vice President of Huawei Middle East and Central Asia, said that he is thrilled to host the 2024 regional Seeds for the Future initiative and looks forward to seeing regional ICT talents in action.

Huawei’s Seeds for the Future program is the company’s flagship CSR initiative that aims to develop ICT talents globally. Since its launch in 2008, more than 18,000 students have participated from 141 countries. With endorsements from more than 360 senior officials and heads of state, the program has collaborated with over 500 universities and colleges to cultivate a new generation of ICT leaders and innovators.

Besides the in-depth learning of ICT innovations and interaction with sector experts, participants are involved in a series of activities and sightseeing tours in Uzbekistan to strengthen the collaboration between countries and cultures.

As part of the opening ceremony, a cultural event “Global Village” was held at the Amity University of Tashkent, where each participating team presented their countries’ cultural heritage, traditions, national clothes, and cuisine. The Minister of Digital Technologies of the Republic of Uzbekistan took part in the activity and visited the booths of each country.

This year, the Seeds for the Future program will host intensive training sessions and workshops, including cutting-edge ICT technologies, scientific and technological leadership, and discussions on global topics Tech4Good group projects.

Through learning and mutual exchange, participants will gain a better understanding of 5G, AI, and cloud technologies, build more strengths for future growth, and improve their competitiveness in the job market.