Alibaba Cloud-stc JV kicks off operations in Saudi Arabia

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Saudi Cloud Computing Company (SCCC), a new joint venture company formed by Alibaba Cloud, Saudi Telecom Company (stc) Group, eWTP Arabia Capital, the Saudi Company for Artificial Intelligence (SCAI), and the Saudi Information Technology Company (SITE), has announced the launch of its operations across the kingdom.

The company announced the opening of two data centres in capital Riyadh at the launch ceremony which was attended by the management team from stc Group, eWTP Arabia Capital and Alibaba Cloud.

With the data stored within Saudi Arabia, the two data centres will offer customers in Saudi a local option to utilize global leading cloud capabilities with high availability, elasticity, security, sustainability.

The new data centres provide a wide range of proven and secure public cloud computing solutions ranging from elastic compute, storage, network to database to cater for the surging business demand from industries such as retail, fintech, internet, and so on along their digitalization journey in the region.

Commenting on the launch, stc Group CEO Olayan Mohammed Alwetaid said: "Saudi Arabia is making great strides towards delivering a scalable and secure IT infrastructure to keep up with the demand for a robust and secure cloud service offering in the digital era. We are extremely pleased to collaborate with Alibaba Cloud who will leverage their technology expertise and industry know-how for our customers in the Kingdom looking to embrace digital innovation."

SCCC Chairman Faisal Al Khamisi stressed that the launch of the company was a unique achievement and an important step in supporting the digital transformation process taking place in the kingdom.

"Today, under the guidance and follow-up of HRH Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, leader of the Kingdom's Vision 2030, the launch of SCCC’s services, a few days after the company's establishment, has become clear evidence that we are working within the vision of a leader who works to ease legislation and laws in the Kingdom, support attracting investments, and enhancing the Kingdom’s digital position in the world," noted Al Khamisi.

Selina Yuan, Alibaba Group VP & Alibaba Cloud Intelligence International President, pointed out that Saudi Arabia was a very strategic and important market for Alibaba Cloud.

"This launch of the new joint venture is a significant milestone towards our commitment to forging collaborations with local partners to boost the digital transformation in Saudi Arabia. By collaborating closely with stc Group and other local partners, we are pleased and confident that Alibaba Cloud will support more local enterprises benefiting from the leading cloud computing technologies," he added.

Founder and Managing Partner of eWTP Arabia Capital Jerry Li said as a key participant in the joint venture, the group has invested in and supported over 16 Chinese digital technology companies among different sectors, to enter the Mena market.

"Most of them will be SCCC's first customers. eWTPA are committed to bring and encourage more advanced tech companies from China on boarding this cloud, host data locally. Participate in the transformation process of digital transformation in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia towards Vision2030," he added.