Amazon Web Services (AWS) has unveiled its plans to launch a new AWS infrastructure Region in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by 2026. This will provide developers, startups, entrepreneurs, enterprises, healthcare, education, gaming, and nonprofit organizations with increased options for hosting their applications and serving end users directly from data centers within the Kingdom.
As part of a substantial long-term investment, AWS is set to allocate more than $5.3 billion (approximately 19.88 billion Saudi riyal) to bolster its presence in the Kingdom. The new AWS Region is slated to consist of three Availability Zones at launch, contributing to the existing 105 Availability Zones spread across 33 global regions.
AWS has an extensive service portfolio, encompassing analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), compute, database, Internet of Things (IoT), machine learning (ML), mobile services, storage, and other cloud technologies. This move will empower a wide range of customers, from startups to enterprises and public sector organizations, to leverage cutting-edge technologies from the world’s leading cloud provider, fostering innovation, meeting data residency preferences, reducing latency, and addressing the increasing demand for cloud services in the Kingdom and across the Middle East.
To support the growing adoption of cloud services in Saudi Arabia, AWS is expanding its training programs to contribute to the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 goal of empowering women in the workforce. AWS will also invest to upskill students, local developers, technical and non-technical professionals, and the next generation of IT leaders through initiatives like AWS Academy and AWS Skill Builder.
Recently, AWS and Amazon launched the Amazon Academy in Saudi Arabia, offering specialized training in cloud technology, logistics, and retail. This initiative aims to train over 30,000 Saudi citizens, distribute 35,000 certification vouchers, and provide 100 internship opportunities, contributing to the Kingdom’s broader human capability development objectives.
In response to the surging demand for cloud services, major players in the cloud computing industry, including Amazon’s competitors Google-parent Alphabet and Microsoft, have announced increased investments, primarily in data centers, to support the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence technologies. Oracle, too, is gearing up for substantial expansion in Saudi Arabia, with plans for a $1.5 billion investment to establish its third public cloud region in Riyadh, aligning with the nation’s growing digital ambitions.
As part of its broader expansion plan, AWS plans to launch an additional 18 Availability Zones and six more AWS Regions, including Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Thailand, and the AWS European Sovereign Cloud.
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