Editor-DN
Bangkok, Thailand:
Google plans to invest $1 billion to build digital infrastructure in Thailand, including a new data center, with the US tech giant announcing the move will create 14,000 jobs in the kingdom. .
The company said in a statement on Monday that the new center in Bangkok and the industrial area in Chonburi are intended to help meet the growing demand for cloud computing in Southeast Asia.
Google’s investment comes after Microsoft announced in May that it would build Thailand’s first data center region to develop cloud and artificial intelligence infrastructure.
“This investment will empower Thai businesses, innovators and communities to harness the power of cloud and AI technology,” said Ruth Porat, president and chief investment officer of Google and its parent company Alphabet.
Details of the investment were revealed after a meeting in Bangkok between Porat and Thai Prime Minister Patongtern Shinawatra, who called the move proof that Thailand is becoming a major digital hub in Southeast Asia.
The data center will be located in Chonburi, a large industrial area southeast of Bangkok, while the cloud facilities will be located in the capital.
Google’s expansion into Thailand will add $4 billion to the kingdom’s GDP by 2029 and support 14,000 jobs between 2025 and 2029, the company said, citing a report by consultancy Deloitte.
The announcement comes a year after Shinawatra’s predecessor, Saritha Thavisin, made a major push for investment from US tech giants to secure funding from Google, Microsoft and Elon Musk’s Tesla during a visit to New York.
Thailand is Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy, but its tech sector has lagged behind Singapore and Indonesia.
The Thai economy, long focused on traditional manufacturing, agriculture and tourism, is struggling to bounce back from the Covid-19 pandemic.
The government hopes that investments from Google, Microsoft and their ilk will diversify and modernize the kingdom’s economy.
Thailand’s Office of the National Digital Economy and Society Commission has said that the digital economy could contribute 30 percent to GDP by 2027.
Across the region, governments are vying for U.S. tech dollars, with Vietnam mounting a drive to move up the value chain from its traditional base as a hub for footwear, clothing and furniture production.
Vietnam hopes to benefit from the US move to become less dependent on China for key resources, including high-tech chips.
And last week, Vietnamese state media reported that Musk’s SpaceX plans to invest $1.5 billion in the communist country.
(Other than the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
