On Monday, Amazon announced the launch of the AWS Asia Pacific (New Zealand) region, with a planned investment of NZ$7.5 billion (US$4.4 billion).
The firm said in a statement that the new AWS Region will give developers, startups, entrepreneurs, and enterprises, as well as financial services, retail, education, government and nonprofit organizations, greater choice for running their applications and serving end users from data centers located in New Zealand.
As part of its long-term plan, Amazon will invest over NZ$7.5 billion (US$4.4 billion) in New Zealand to build, connect, operate, and maintain its data centers in the country.
“The new AWS Region in New Zealand will help serve the growing demand for cloud services across the country and empower organizations of all sizes to accelerate their digital transformation,
“With this launch, businesses can now leverage advanced AWS technologies, from core cloud capabilities to artificial intelligence and machine learning, all while meeting local data residency requirements,” said Prasad Kalyanaraman, vice president of Infrastructure Services at AWS.
“By investing in New Zealand’s digital infrastructure, we’re proud to support the country’s economic growth, foster innovation, and help position it as a technology hub in the Asia Pacific region,” he added.
The AWS Asia Pacific (New Zealand) Region has launched with three Availability Zones, giving Amazon a total of 120 Availability Zones across 38 regions worldwide.
AWS also plans to add 10 more Availability Zones and three new regions in Chile, Saudi Arabia, and the AWS European Sovereign Cloud.
To support cloud adoption in the Asia Pacific, Amazon is investing in training programs like AWS Academy, AWS Educate, and AWS Skill Builder. Through an agreement with the New Zealand government, AWS has committed to train 100,000 people in cloud skills. So far, it has already trained over 50,000 people. AWS also plans to hire more local staff to run and support the new region.
Many New Zealand organizations already use AWS, including AMP New Zealand, AsureQuality, Contact Energy, Education Perfect, Foodstuffs South Island, Halter, Kiwibank, Mercury NZ, Les Mills, Ministry of Transport, Mitre 10, New Zealand Post, One New Zealand, Sharesies, Steel & Tube, TradeMe, TVNZ, University of Auckland, Vector, Wellington City Council, Xero, and more. AWS partners in New Zealand include Accenture, Datacom, Deloitte, MongoDB, Westcon-Comstor, and others.
Amazon is also focused on sustainability. It aims to reach net-zero carbon by 2040 as part of The Climate Pledge, which it co-founded in 2019. The new AWS region will run on renewable energy from day one, thanks to a deal with Mercury NZ’s Turitea South wind farm. This partnership adds new renewable energy capacity to New Zealand and shows how digital growth and decarbonization can work together.
Amazon estimates the ongoing operation of the new AWS region will contribute around NZ$10.8 billion (US$6.33 billion) to New Zealand’s GDP and support over 1,000 full-time jobs each year in areas like engineering, telecom, and facility maintenance.
The new AWS region is Amazon’s latest big investment in New Zealand, bringing advanced and secure cloud technology to local businesses and organizations.
“I think that investment is immense and it is historic. It will have a significant impact on our GDP,
“It will create up to 1,000 jobs, and it will deliver more than almost NZ$11 billion worth of boost to our GDP and it shows that New Zealand is a great place for investment for the future,” said Rt Hon Christopher Luxon, Prime Minister of New Zealand.
According to him, this is the largest publicly announced technology investment in New Zealand.
The AWS Asia Pacific (New Zealand) Region will let customers who need local data storage keep their information securely in New Zealand. It will also provide lower latency and meet the growing demand for cloud services across the Asia Pacific.
From startups and large enterprises to government bodies and nonprofits, customers will be able to use AWS’s advanced technologies to innovate faster, cut costs, and speed up digital transformation.
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