Amazon’s cloud computing provider, AWS, is launching a cloud region in Malaysia. In a statement announcing the news on March 2, the US tech giant said its cloud unit plans to invest $6bn in the country by 2037 which will give public and private players “greater choice for running their applications and serving end users from data centres located in Malaysia.” 

In the statement, Malaysian prime minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said: “Bringing access to world-class AWS infrastructure, advanced technologies and cloud skills programs to Malaysia will unlock opportunities for local businesses of all sizes to build and expand globally.”

The Malaysian cloud infrastructure will consist of three availability zones. AWS is also planning to launch new regions in Canada, Israel, Malaysia, New Zealand and Thailand.

Enbridge plans North American investment drive

Energy company Enbridge has announced a C$3.3bn ($2.4bn) investment drive across its home market of Canada and the US. Announced by the Calgary-headquartered firm on March 1, the package allocates C$2.4bn to modernising its gas transmission infrastructure across the two countries.

It also includes $335m for buying a gas storage facility in Tres Palacios along Texas’s Gulf Coast and $240m for the construction of its Houston oil terminal. Enbridge also announced it had invested $80m in the American firm Divert, which converts food waste into biogas, and will partner with the company to fund Divert’s $1bn expansion across the US.

Thales’s global hiring spree

France’s Thales is planning to hire 12,000 new employees globally in 2023. The defence group plans to onboard 1050 people in the UK, 600 in Australia, 550 in India, 540 in the US and 200 in Poland. Some 40% of the new staff will work in research and development. 

In a statement announcing the news on February 27, the defence group’s CEO, Patrice Caine, said “particularly in these times of upheaval and transformation” it is driven by the goal of “harnessing human intelligence and technology to drive progress in our societies.”

The announcement comes just one week after Thales launched its first design centre in India. In 2022 Thales hit a record level of recruitment, hiring 11,500 staff. 

And finally: On February 28, Spanish infrastructure major Ferrovial proposed a corporate restructure which would move its headquarters to the Netherlands.