https://arab.news/v8fbq
RIYADH: Tencent Cloud will begin operations in Saudi Arabia this year with an initial investment of $150 million, as the Chinese tech giant moves to expand its footprint in the Middle East, a company official said.
Dan Hu, vice president of Tencent Cloud International for the Middle East and North Africa, said the company’s expansion aligns with Saudi Arabia’s broader push to attract foreign investment and establish itself as a global technology hub under Vision 2030.
“Tencent Cloud’s Saudi region will become operational by 2025. We will see it this year,” Hu said in an interview with Arab News at the LEAP conference in Riyadh. “We are going to invest $150 million for the local infrastructure, we source partnerships over the next few years. We have to support the country’s Vision 2030.”
The company is working to build its presence in the Kingdom by assembling a local team, forging partnerships, and expanding its customer base.
“In China, Tencent was established more than two decades ago. We are probably one of the most reputable companies in China. We have WeChat, we have games ecosystem,” he said.
While Tencent has an established and mature ecosystem in China, Hu acknowledged the company is still in the early stages of expansion in the Middle East.
“Our data center will be operational by the end of this year. We are still trying to build up our local teams and to build up our local ecosystem, our suppliers and our customers, our system integrators, and our ecosystem partners,” he said.
Despite its nascent presence in the Kingdom, Tencent has already secured major clients, including clean-energy leader BYD, even before its Saudi operations officially launch.
Hu sees strong growth potential for cloud computing in the region, particularly in applications leveraging artificial intelligence and generative AI.
“I think cloud computing can be a very robust infrastructure for AI applications. Cloud computing can be the underlying infrastructure to support the prosperity of AI applications in the Kingdom and also in the region,” he said.
Hu added that Tencent Cloud has tailored offerings for customers in Saudi Arabia, including gaming solutions, live streaming, and real-time applications.