Huawei to Open Largest Flagship Store in Saudi Arabia

The Saudi government said that the Chinese technology company Huawei intends to open a flagship store in Riyadh, to be the largest store of its kind outside China.

The statement said that Huawei signed an agreement with Kaden Investments to open the store, which will allow the Chinese company to directly access consumers in light of the increasing demand for digital products and services in the Kingdom.

The investment ministry statement said that Saudi Arabia expects to increase internet use in the kingdom from coverage of 73.2% of the population in 2017 to 82.6% in 2022.

Last year, the Saudi Authority for Data and Artificial Intelligence signed a memorandum of understanding with Huawei to support the use of the Arabic language in artificial intelligence technology, with the help of researchers from the Kingdom and Huawei.

The United States asked its allies not to use Huawei's technology to build 5G communications networks due to concerns that it might be a Chinese spying tool, an accusation the company denies.

Some telecom companies in the Gulf states, including the Zain unit in Saudi Arabia, signed deals to use Huawei's 5G technology.