Oracle boosts Saudi Arabia’s AI economy with new public cloud region in Riyadh

Oracle Corporation has announced the launch of its second public cloud region in Saudi Arabia, marking a significant milestone in the company’s ambitious expansion plans. The new cloud region, based in Riyadh, is part of Oracle’s broader strategy to invest US $1.5 billion to enhance the Kingdom’s cloud infrastructure, aligning with Saudi Vision 2030. This expansion underscores Oracle’s commitment to bolstering the Saudi Arabian economy and fostering the growth of artificial intelligence (AI) within the region.

Oracle’s Strategic Investment in Saudi Arabia

The Riyadh cloud region, Oracle’s second in Saudi Arabia, complements the existing Oracle Cloud Jeddah Region and the planned Oracle Cloud Region in NEOM. This initiative aims to provide a comprehensive suite of cloud services, enabling both public and private sector organizations to migrate various workloads to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI). This move is designed to help accelerate AI innovation and strengthen business resilience through high-performance computing, built-in security, and robust disaster recovery capabilities.

The new region will offer advanced networking features such as Oracle’s FastConnect, which provides dedicated, private connections to the cloud, reducing latency and improving data transfer speeds. It will also support Oracle’s advanced analytics services, including Oracle Analytics Cloud, which empowers organizations with real-time insights and enhanced decision-making capabilities.

The expansion is a crucial element of Oracle’s distributed cloud strategy, designed to support Saudi Arabia’s AI economy, which is projected to reach $135.2 billion by 2030. The new cloud region will enable local organizations to leverage advanced cloud services, including Oracle Autonomous Database, HeatWave MySQL Database Service, Oracle Container Engine for Kubernetes, and OCI Generative AI service, among others. The Riyadh region will also feature Oracle’s new AI-optimized infrastructure, designed to accelerate machine learning workloads and data processing.

Impact on Saudi Arabia’s Digital Economy

The new Oracle Cloud Riyadh Region is set to significantly impact Saudi Arabia’s digital economy. According to His Excellency Eng. Haytham Alohali, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, the opening of this cloud region is a testament to the Kingdom’s ongoing efforts to boost its digital economy through innovation and modern technologies. He highlighted that the initiative would facilitate innovation and promote the adoption of AI and cloud computing across various sectors, enhancing Saudi Arabia’s regional and global competitiveness.

The expansion aligns with Saudi Arabia’s National Industrial Development and Logistics Program (NIDLP), which seeks to enhance the Kingdom’s capabilities in industrial and logistics sectors through technological advancements. Richard Smith, Executive Vice President and General Manager, EMEA Cloud Infrastructure at Oracle, emphasized the company’s dedication to supporting Saudi Arabia’s goal of establishing one of the world’s most robust digital economies. The Riyadh cloud region will play a pivotal role in accelerating cloud and AI adoption, helping local businesses meet data hosting requirements and foster innovation across all sectors.

Enhanced Cloud Capabilities and Local Benefits

The addition of the Riyadh cloud region provides Oracle’s customers and partners with low-latency access to cloud services, enhancing business continuity through high availability and disaster recovery capabilities. This infrastructure upgrade allows customers to benefit from Oracle’s sovereign AI capabilities, which offer greater control over data location and management in compliance with digital sovereignty frameworks.

With the Riyadh region, Oracle will also offer enhanced support for compliance with Saudi Arabia’s data localisation laws, which mandate that certain data must be stored and processed within the country. This compliance support is crucial for businesses operating in regulated industries such as finance and healthcare. Oracle’s cloud architecture, designed for rapid expansion, enables the company to deploy additional public cloud regions quickly while maintaining consistent performance and global pricing. This approach helps meet diverse market needs without compromising on cloud capabilities.

Reactions from Partners and Analysts

The new cloud region has been well-received by Oracle’s partners and industry analysts. Fahad Alhajeri, CEO of Center3, expressed enthusiasm about the collaboration, noting that the expansion aligns with their shared vision of advancing Saudi Arabia’s digital economy. Alhajeri highlighted the strategic importance of the new cloud region in fostering technological innovation and empowering businesses across the country.

Center3, Oracle’s host partner for the Riyadh region, is a leading regional data centre provider, known for its high standards in infrastructure and support services. This partnership is expected to drive substantial growth in the Kingdom’s cloud adoption rates. Jyoti Lalchandani, Regional Managing Director at IDC, also praised Oracle’s expansion, emphasizing that local cloud infrastructure supports faster data processing and enhanced security while ensuring compliance with national regulations. Lalchandani noted that this development is crucial for driving digital transformation and leveraging AI to gain competitive advantages and create local value.

The expansion is also expected to stimulate job creation in the tech sector, contributing to the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 goal of increasing the proportion of digital economy-related employment.