MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has pledged government support for Amazon Web Services’ proposed $5 billion (more than P300 billion) investment to build digital infrastructure in the Philippines over the next 15 years, Malacañang said Wednesday.
During a courtesy call at the Palace, Marcos and AWS officials discussed expanding the company’s presence in the country as part of the administration’s efforts to accelerate digital transformation and position the Philippines as a regional digital infrastructure hub.
Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said AWS presented its Digital Infrastructure Investment proposal, which aims to strengthen the country’s digital transformation initiatives while creating more jobs for Filipinos.
According to the Presidential Communications Office, the proposal includes the possible establishment of an AWS Region in the Philippines—a cluster of data centers that would provide cloud computing services directly from within the country.
The Philippines currently hosts an AWS Local Zone in Manila, which delivers low-latency computing for selected services but relies on AWS’ Singapore Region and supports only a limited range of cloud services.
If approved, the proposed AWS Region is expected to support the government’s digital transformation agenda by accelerating e-government services, attracting more technology and artificial intelligence investments, strengthening digital infrastructure, creating high-value jobs, and enhancing the country’s competitiveness as a regional hub for digital infrastructure and AI.
Last month, AWS announced the launch of an AWS Region in Taipei, alongside plans to invest more than $5 billion in the construction, operation and maintenance of data centers in Taiwan.