Amazon expands Asia-Pacific web services with Taiwan

Taipei, June 6 (CNA) American e-commerce conglomerate Amazon has extended the operations of its Amazon Web Services (AWS) in the Asia-Pacific by expanding the services' "Regions" coverage to Taiwan, the company announced Friday.

As part of that commitment, Amazon could invest US$5 billion in Taiwan to support the construction, connection, operations, and maintenance of data centers here, according to the company.

In a statement, AWS Infrastructure Services Vice President Prasad Kalyanaraman said the Regions expansion to Taiwan will enable startup companies, developers and nongovernmental organizations to use AWS' on-demand information technology (IT) web services.

Those services include cloud computing storage, databases and even more advanced analytic utilities as well as artificial intelligence (AI).

According to Kalyanaraman, organizations in Taiwan and other Asia-Pacific locations could join millions of clients in enjoying the speed of the services that is integral to increasing the pace of innovation, quality of operations and cultivation of sales for end users.

The worldwide network of AWS Regions include 117 availability zones spanning 37 geographic locations.

Taiwan and Thailand have become the latest Regions additions to AWS services in the Asia-Pacific in 2025, joining the likes of Tokyo, Osaka, Seoul, Malaysia, Singapore, Jakarta, Hong Kong and Beijing.

AWS Regions are made up of various availability zones that are infrastructures independent from one another, each working with its own power, cooling system and security protocols.

Taiwan's three availability zones, for example, are far enough apart to provide a network to a large number of clients and are also close enough to operate in tandem at high efficiency and limited delays.

On the opening of Regions availability in Taiwan, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) thanked Amazon in the statement and said the extension of the services to Taiwan demonstrated the island's importance as an integral member of the global supply chain.

He said he looked forward to seeing Taiwan's IT capabilities integrate with AWS to advance the world's digital ecosystem and contribute to the progress of technological development at an international scale.