Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the latest high-tech giant to announce a major stake in Saudi Arabia’s burgeoning technology industry, unveiling a plan this week to invest more than $5.3 billion in the Middle East kingdom to build data centers and a significant cloud presence in the region.
Specifically, AWS will launch what it’s calling an AWS infrastructure Region in Saudi Arabia in 2026 to give technology developers, existing businesses, and startups and entrepreneurs a comprehensive, in-country data-center infrastructure for running their cloud-based technology solutions, according to a release by Amazon’s cloud unit.
“The new AWS Region will enable organizations to unlock the full potential of the cloud and build with AWS technologies like compute, storage, databases, analytics, and artificial intelligence, transforming the way businesses and institutions serve their customers,” said Prasad Kalyanaraman, vice president of infrastructure services at AWS, in a press statement.
Seeding the Kingdom
AWS will join competitors Huawei, Microsoft, and Oracle in launching significantly funded plans to build cloud infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, bolstering the country’s plans to become a technology hub for the Middle East. Indeed, the kingdom is positioning itself as a global leader in digital technologies ahead of its hosting of the World Expo 2030 in Riyadh.
Amazon’s investment in the kingdom aims to fortify this strategy “with the highest levels of security and resilience available on AWS cloud infrastructure, helping serve fast-growing demand for cloud services across the Middle East,” Kalyanaraman said.
The move likely was spurred not only by an interest in ensuring it stays on pace with competitors in a fast-growing global market, but also by pressure on foreign firms applied last year by Saudi Arabia to move operations to the country or risk losing government contracts. Amazon — alongside its US-based cloud competitors Google and Microsoft — acted quickly to set up regional headquarters in Saudi Arabia.
