Strasbourg (AFP)
The first equipment production site, particularly related to 5G, of the Chinese telecoms giant Huawei outside China should open "in the course of 2023" in Alsace, the project leaders announced in Strasbourg on Tuesday.
Construction work on the plant, which will be dedicated to base stations, could begin as early as this year and the site "could produce the first mobile station in 2023", announced at a press conference at the headquarters of the Region Grand Est Catherine Chen, vice-president and member of the Board of Directors of Huawei, without giving a specific date.
"Today is a historic date for Huawei" which "formalizes the establishment of a production site" in Alsace.
It will be "the first mobile equipment production plant (Huawei) outside of China," she added in a video message released during the press conference for the official presentation of the project, which brought together representatives of Huawei, the Grand Est Region and the Haguenau Agglomeration Community (CAH).
Huawei announced on December 17 its decision to set up its factory in the "Business Parc" of Brumath (Bas-Rhin), a town of about 10,000 inhabitants about twenty kilometers from Strasbourg, not far from Haguenau.
The Chinese group will invest 200 million euros in this site called "Huawei European Wireless Factory", which is to produce the main equipment making up the wireless base stations (i.e. antennas) intended for the European market .
It will produce base station equipment for "all generations of technology, including 3G, 4G and 5G," said Linda Han, vice president of public affairs at Huawei, responsible for France.
According to Huawei, the site should generate 300 direct jobs, 500 in the long term, and should produce the equivalent of one billion euros of equipment per year.
"It is a fruitful collaboration which makes it possible to lead to the establishment of this future factory", welcomed LR president of the Grand Est Region, Jean Rottner, hailing a "major investment" which "feels good" to a "local economy which is in great need of it today".
In a press release, Huawei also indicated that it wanted to build an "ecological factory" in Brumath, in particular by using "eco-responsible construction materials and processes" and by "drastically limiting the energy impact" of the factory.
"This factory will be a benchmark in terms of respect for the environment", insisted during the press conference Jacques Biot, chairman of the board of directors of Huawei France.
It "reinforces Huawei's commitment to France by boosting qualified employment, a priority axis of our commitment", he added, evoking a "virtuous dynamic for the local ecosystem and for the Alsatian economic sector ".
"Our choice is that of + made in France + for Europe", continued Mr. Biot, assuring that Huawei, as part of the "design and construction of the plant", would research and evaluate "with the greatest interest the French suppliers".
Considered to be the most advanced of the three main suppliers of 5G equipment, the Chinese giant, present in France since 2003, recently announced several investments in France, including the opening of a research center (R&D) in Paris as part of a campaign aimed at demonstrating its desire to establish a lasting presence there.
It currently employs nearly a thousand people in France (12,200 indirect jobs) and has 23 R&D centers in Europe, where Huawei employs a total of 13,000 people, for 170,000 indirect jobs.
© 2021 AFP