SLT-Mobitel-ZTE to collaborate on local device manufacturing and talent development

To unlock the potential of Sri Lanka’s digital economy and leverage advanced technologies, SLT-Mobitel, the national ICT solutions provider, signed a historic memorandum of understanding (MoU) with ZTE Corporation, a major international provider of telecommunications, enterprise and consumer technology solutions, to collaborate on manufacturing devices on a local scale.

The MoU was signed by SLT Group Chief Executive Officer Lalith Seneviratne, SLT Chief Operating Officer Priyantha Fernandez, Mobitel Chief Executive Officer Chandika Vitharana and ZTE Director for Core Network for Asia-Pacific Yang Chenhui, at The Embryo, Group R&D Center of SLT-Mobitel, at Trace Express City, Colombo 10.  

SLT Group Chairman Rohan Fernando, ZTE Chief Executive Officer Yang Min and ZTE Deputy Chief Executive Officer Li Shuhai also attended the signing ceremony together with the senior management and executives from both companies.

Under the MoU, SLT-Mobitel and ZTE will collaborate with potential parties to jointly provide expertise and resources to establish a local manufacturing plant for the production of customer premises equipment, dongles and mobile phones.

According to the agreement, both parties have also agreed to collaborate based on a mutually beneficial framework of research and development facilitating greater cooperation in advancing the innovation landscape of the country.

Importantly, this is the first partnership of its kind in Sri Lanka with ZTE, demonstrating SLT-Mobitel’s commitment to support the nation’s digitalisation journey.

Commenting on the new partnership Fernando stated, “We take great pride in announcing our MoU with ZTE Corporation, one of the leaders in advanced telecommunications technology. This strategic partnership supports SLT-Mobitel’s efforts to incorporate best practices in manufacturing processes, accelerate the development of technological solutions and provide a world-class telecom infrastructure for the people of Sri Lanka leveraging the technical expertise of ZTE Corporation and while pursuing our vision of enriching people’s digital lives. We look forward to working with ZTE Corporation on this exciting new initiative.”

Min also gave his comments, saying, “We are pleased to partner with SLT-Mobitel, the nation’s ICT leader, providing important technological developments and sharing of expertise supporting Sri Lanka to build an industry ecosystem based on open collaboration. We are encouraged to note Sri Lanka has an enabling environment providing international businesses the requisite confidence to invest especially in technological ventures and also participate in the telecommunication revolution taking place in the country.”

Consequent to this landmark announcement, SLT-Mobitel and ZTE signed a strategic bilateral MoU in the areas of resource sharing and talent development programmes to be conducted at the SLT Training Centre (SLTTC), the company’s technical training institution. Seneviratne, Fernandez and Min signed on behalf of their 
respective institutions.