Syed Imran Haider 
On Tuesday, Amazon Web Services (AWS) said that Amazon is planning on spending S$12 billion, which is equivalent to $8.8 billion, to expand its cloud computing infrastructure in Singapore.
It will do so over the course of four years. The company has already invested about S$11.5 billion in the Asia Pacific region till last year and this investment will add to it.
According to the statement form AWS, it would bring the company’s total spending in Singapore to S$23 billion by 2028.
Southeast Asia
It appears that the top leaders in Southeast Asia are now looking to get a bigger share of the global tech pie.
In December, Singapore, Vietnam and Malaysia hosted the CEO of Nvidia, Jensen Huang. While last month Apple CEO Tim Cook visited Indonesia, Vietnam and Singapore.
As far as recent investments in the region are concerned, Apple disclosed that it will expand its operations in Singapore with an investment of $250 million.
AWS also disclosed that it is planning on collaborating with enterprises, public sector organizations and the government in Singapore.
As per the statement, the goal is to accelerate the adoption of AI (artificial intelligence) and generate AI in the country.
AWS announcement
Priscilla Chong, the AWS Country Manager, said that from 2024 to 2028, AWS would double down on its investments in cloud infrastructure in Singapore.
This is with the aim of supporting strong customer demand and for reinforcing the status of Singapore as an attractive Launchpad for regional innovation.
Amazon made the investment announcement at the AWS ASEAN Summit in Singapore. It is the the latest move by the company in its quest to build its AWS infrastructure in Southeast Asia.
Previously, Amazon had announcement investments in Thailand and Malaysia of $5 billion and $6 billion, respectively.
The potential
The announcement from Amazon comes days after Satyda Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, announced his company’s investments in the Southeast Asian region.
The Microsoft CEO visited the region and announced investments in both Malaysia and Indonesia of $2.2 billion and $1.7 billion, respectively.
Southeast Asia has a tech-savvy and young population and this has garnered greater interest from technology giants.
In December, it was reported that Nvidia would partner with the utilities unit of YTL, a Malaysian conglomerate, for developing AI infrastructure. The investment deal valued at about $4.3 billion.
This week, the trade minister of Malaysia, Tengku Zafrul Aziz, disclosed that Google was also planning on investing in the country.
The state news agency further said that an announcement from Google regarding its investment was expected in the near future.
Meanwhile, Indonesia is inviting Nvidia’s CEO for a visit again. Last month, Budi Arie Setiadi. The communications minister of the country, said that they had invited Huang for a visit.
