Alibaba Cloud, Saudi Telecom Company and EWTP Arabia Capital Form Joint Venture

Saudi Telecom Company (STC), the largest mobile operator in the Middle East, announced on Sunday that it has established a cloud computing joint venture with Alibaba Cloud and EWTP Arabia Capital in Saudi Arabia with a registered capital of 894 million Saudi riyals ($238 million).

Headquartered in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the joint venture company aims to implement “Saudi Vision 2030” to promote economic diversification and accelerate the development of the digital industry.

While STC is the largest mobile and telecom operator in the Middle East and North Africa, EWTP Arabia Capital is an investment institution supported in the Middle East and North Africa by PIF (Public Investment Fund), a sovereign wealth fund located in Saudi Arabia. Previously, STC and Alibaba Cloud have established a cooperative relationship in the field of cloud computing, expanding Alibaba Cloud’s service scope to all parts of Saudi Arabia. The announcement shows that the establishment of a cloud computing joint venture will better meet the rapidly growing demand for cloud technology and services in Saudi Arabia.

Alibaba Cloud has entered into several partnerships in Saudi Arabia and has maintained an office and a local team in Riyadh since the end of 2020. In August last year, Alibaba Cloud announced its cooperation with the Saudi Tourism Authority to enhance the digital experience of tourists through cloud computing technology support, such as cloud infrastructure and databases.

In recent years, Alibaba Cloud has seen rapid growth in overseas markets. The scale of the overseas markets has increased more than 10 times in the last three years, taking the leading position in the Asia-Pacific region while expanding its business to the Middle East and Europe. Not long ago, Alibaba Cloud announced the addition of a new data center in Germany, forming a 3AZ available area in Frankfurt, Germany.

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To date, Alibaba Cloud operates 84 areas in 27 regions around the world. According to Gartner’s latest data, Alibaba Cloud ranked third in the global cloud computing market in 2021, with a market share of 9.55%, and saw its market share expand for six consecutive years.