Huawei has announced it is preparing to spend €200 million to build a factory in Europe.
Amid ongoing concerns its equipment opens governments and corporations up to spying by Beijing, Huawei likely hopes that manufacturing equipment locally for the European market will help alleviate those concerns. The €200 million budget is for the land, construction and equipment necessary to establish the factory.
“The wireless communications equipment produced by this plant will be mainly used in Europe,” read the company statement. “With this plant, Huawei states that it will be able to cover every link along its value chain and drive local industries forward, both upstream and downstream. These links include R&D, sales, procurement, production, logistics, service, and talent development. The plant will also be one of Huawei’s first implementations of its advanced manufacturing technologies in Europe. This will drive the technical competitiveness of European industry and boost the resilience of local supply chains and infrastructure.
“It is estimated that this project will generate 1 billion euros worth of products annually and directly create 500 jobs. Huawei has operated in Europe for 20 years, directly employing over 12,000 employees. Huawei has directly and indirectly created approximately 170,000 jobs in Europe as a result. Moving forward, Huawei is committed to operating ‘in Europe, for Europe’, remaining open and collaborative, and continuing to contribute to Europe.”
As Huawei continues to struggle with increasing U.S. pressure, this announcement shows the length the company is willing to go to address concerns.