AWS launches Taiwan cloud region with $5B investment pledge

　　AWS has launched its first cloud region in Taiwan and plans to invest over US$5 billion in the construction, operation and maintenance of its data centers in the country.

　　The newly opened AWS Asia Pacific (Taipei) Region consists of three Availability Zones, each located in a different area. Each zone has its own independent power, cooling and physical security systems. The zones are connected via redundant, ultra-low-latency networks.

　　According to AWS, the new cloud region allows the company to comply with local residency requirements for businesses in major industries across the country.

　　"Organizations in regulated industries will be able to store data locally while maintaining complete control over data location and movement. From high-tech manufacturing to semiconductor companies and small and medium enterprises (SMEs), businesses will gain access to the scalable infrastructure needed for growth and innovation," Betty Zheng, senior developer advocate at AWS, said in a blog published on Thursday.

　　AWS vice president of Infrastructure Services Prasad Kalyanaraman noted that the new cloud region provides a comprehensive suite of cloud services to organizations of all sizes, ranging from foundational computing and storage to advanced analytics and artificial intelligence.

　　Some of the company's customers in Taiwan include Cathay Financial Holdings, Chunghwa Telecom, CyberLink, Gamania Group, KKCompany, Modernity Financial Technologies (MaiCoin), Trend Micro, TSMC and Yahoo! TW Ecommerce.

　　Meanwhile, AWS announced plans to hire and train more local staff to operate and support its first cloud region in Taiwan.

　　Since 2017, the company has trained over nine million people in the Asia-Pacific and Japan regions on cloud skills, including over 200,000 individuals in Taiwan.

　　"Amazon continues to invest in upskilling students, local developers and technical professionals, non-technical professionals, and the next generation of IT leaders in Taiwan through offerings like AWS Academy, AWS Educate, and AWS Skill Builder," the company said in a statement.

　　Ongoing investments

　　The AWS Asia Pacific (Taipei) Region is Amazon's latest investment in Taiwan.

　　In 2014, AWS launched an Amazon CloudFront edge location in Taipei, and an additional one was launched in 2018. Amazon CloudFront is a content delivery network that accelerates the delivery of data, videos, applications and APIs to users around the world.

　　Seven years ago, the company established two AWS Direct Connect locations in Taipei, enabling customers to create a private connection between their data center, office or colocation environment and AWS. With its first cloud region in Taiwan, AWS plans to open an additional AWS Direct Connect location in Taipei.

　　In 2022, AWS established AWS Local Zones in Taipei. These zones are a type of infrastructure deployment that brings select services, such as computing, storage and database services closer to large populations, industries and IT centers.

　　With the launch of its new AWS Asia Pacific (Taipei) Region, AWS now has 117 Availability Zones across 37 Regions worldwide. AWS plans to open 13 more Availability Zones and four additional AWS Regions in Chile, New Zealand, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the AWS European Sovereign Cloud.