Saudi Delegation Visits Portugal, Austria to Boost Saudi High-Tech Manufacturing

Saudi Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources logo
Saudi Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources logo
TT

Saudi Delegation Visits Portugal, Austria to Boost Saudi High-Tech Manufacturing

Saudi Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources logo
Saudi Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources logo

A Saudi Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources delegation recently visited Portugal and Austria to discuss enhancing cooperation in high-technology manufacturing. The delegation met with government and private entities in both countries.

In Portugal, the delegation, led by the Director General of Manufacturing Localization and Increasing Local Content Engineer Mohammed bin Abdullah al-Janini, held discussions with representatives of the Portuguese Trade and Investment Agency and the Arab-Portuguese Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The focus was on supporting and stimulating the high-tech manufacturing environment in Saudi Arabia and exchanging expertise in this field. The delegation also visited leading Portuguese factories in the high-tech manufacturing sector, including the Unicorn Factory incubator, which supports startups and entrepreneurs in the technology sector.

In Austria, the delegation visited the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) headquarters to review the Kingdom's efforts to support and develop the industrial environment. Additionally, the delegation discussed the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources' preparations to host the Multilateral Industrial Policy Forum 2024 (MIPF) in Riyadh this month.

The visits were part of the ministry's efforts to strengthen international partnerships that aim to support the development of the industrial sector, encourage innovation and knowledge transfer, localize advanced technologies, and enhance the Kingdom's position as a leading industrial center in the region.



Oracle to Invest $6.5 Bn in Malaysian Cloud Services Region

(FILES) US multinational computer technology company Oracle's logo is pictured at the Mobile World Congress (MWC), the telecom industry's biggest annual gathering, in Barcelona on February 27, 2024. (Photo by PAU BARRENA / AFP)
(FILES) US multinational computer technology company Oracle's logo is pictured at the Mobile World Congress (MWC), the telecom industry's biggest annual gathering, in Barcelona on February 27, 2024. (Photo by PAU BARRENA / AFP)
TT

Oracle to Invest $6.5 Bn in Malaysian Cloud Services Region

(FILES) US multinational computer technology company Oracle's logo is pictured at the Mobile World Congress (MWC), the telecom industry's biggest annual gathering, in Barcelona on February 27, 2024. (Photo by PAU BARRENA / AFP)
(FILES) US multinational computer technology company Oracle's logo is pictured at the Mobile World Congress (MWC), the telecom industry's biggest annual gathering, in Barcelona on February 27, 2024. (Photo by PAU BARRENA / AFP)

Tech giant Oracle on Wednesday said it plans to invest more than $6.5 billion on cloud services data centers in Malaysia, joining a list of US titans rushing to build up their AI infrastructure in Southeast Asia.

The firm said the cloud region would help organizations in the country modernize their applications, migrate their workload to the cloud and innovate with data, analytics and artificial intelligence.

Oracle is working to expand its cloud infrastructure business globally. The company recently projected it will surpass $100 billion in revenue in fiscal 2029, driven by increasing demand for cloud services.

Malaysia's new cloud region will be the firm's third in Southeast Asia, following two facilities in neighboring Singapore.

"Malaysia offers unique growth opportunities for organizations looking to accelerate their expansion with the latest digital technologies," Garrett Ilg, Oracle's executive vice president for Japan and Asia Pacific, said in a statement.

"Our multi-billion-dollar investment affirms our commitment to Malaysia as a regional gateway for cloud infrastructure as well as a comprehensive suite of software as a service applications deployed within Malaysia."

The statement also quoted Malaysia's Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz as welcoming the investment, saying it would help firms with innovative and cutting-edge AI and cloud technologies to boost their global competitiveness.

"Oracle's decision to establish a public cloud region in Malaysia underscores Malaysia's infrastructure readiness, and its growing position as a premier Southeast Asian destination for digital investments," he added.

Oracle is the latest global tech giant to announce major digital investments in Southeast Asia. Google-parent Alphabet said in May it would invest $2 billion to house the firm's first data center in Malaysia.

Google on Monday said it plans to invest $1 billion to build digital infrastructure in Thailand, including a new data center.

Amazon and Microsoft have also announced investments worth billions of dollars in the region as demand for AI hots up.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Tuesday announced that the country plans to develop a National Cloud Policy.