KUALA LUMPUR, March 2 ― International cloud service provider, Amazon Web Services' (AWS) announcement to invest approximately RM25.5 billion over 15 years for its new infrastructure region in Malaysia affirms the nation’s growing importance as a digital hub of choice in Asean.

Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil said the development is a glowing endorsement of Malaysia's capabilities and capacities enabling the nation to further accelerate its economic growth.

"I would also like to take this opportunity to commend the efforts of the various ministries and agencies involved in bringing AWS to our shores.

"These include the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), the lead digital Investment Promotion Agency under the purview of the Ministry of Communications and Digital (KKD),” he said at the AWS Cloud Day Malaysia ministerial remarks session.

Fahmi’s speech text was read out by the Communications and Digital Deputy Minister Teo Nie Ching.

Fahmi said KKD through MDEC had initiated and championed the Cloud First Policy, which turned out to be one of the key decision factors for hyper-scaling data centre investment in Malaysia.

"Our commitment towards adoption of cloud technologies for all new applications, platforms and infrastructures, in advancing government and citizen-centric services to tools and applications, will remain steadfast.

"KKD, MDEC and the government of Malaysia will continue to offer support and facilitation to AWS, particularly in areas of policy related to data protection, privacy and security, cloud services regulations, and high-speed connectivity,” he said.

Fahmi further elaborated that apart from the scalability and flexibility potential that will transform business operations and innovations, AWS’ presence could also offer the security needed to catch up with the fast-evolving digital transformation of the nation.

He also welcomed AWS into the Malaysia Digital Fold, a new national strategic initiative which will offer investors flexible, agile and relevant propositions, taking into account their needs and wants of today and tomorrow.

The new AWS Region will enable customers with data residency preferences to store data securely in Malaysia, enabling customers to achieve lower latency, and serve the demand for cloud services across Southeast Asia.

Its customers, ranging from startups and enterprises to government and nonprofit organisations, will be able to use advanced technologies from the world’s leading cloud services to drive innovation. ― Bernama