BANGKOK: Alphabet’s Google said on Monday (Sep 30) it would invest US$1 billion in Thailand to build a data centre and cloud region to meet growing cloud demand and support artificial intelligence adoption in Southeast Asia.
Google’s expansion in Thailand will add US$4 billion to the kingdom’s gross domestic product by 2029 and support an average of 14,000 jobs annually between 2025 and 2029, the company said, citing a report from consultancy Deloitte.
“Google’s cloud and data centre infrastructure in Bangkok and Chonburi will help meet growing demand for Google Cloud capabilities and AI innovations, and the company’s popular digital services – such as Search, Maps, and Google Workspace,” the company said.
Its data centre would be located in Chonburi, a major industrial area southeast of Bangkok, while the Google cloud region, which consists of hardware and software dedicated to providing services to private and public sector entities, would be in the capital itself.
“These investments will empower Thai businesses, innovators and communities to harness the power of cloud and AI technology,” Ruth Porat, president and chief investment officer of Google and its parent company Alphabet, said.
The investment’s details were unveiled after a Bangkok meeting between Porat and Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who hailed the move as proof Thailand was becoming a major digital hub in Southeast Asia.
Shinawatra said Google’s investment was “perfectly aligned” with the country’s Cloud First Policy.
The announcement comes a year after Shinawatra’s predecessor Srettha Thavisin made a major push for investment from United States tech giants during a trip to New York, seeking finance from Google, Microsoft and Elon Musk’s Tesla.
Thailand is Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy, but its tech sector has lagged behind the likes of Singapore and Indonesia.
The Thai economy, long focused on traditional manufacturing, agriculture and tourism, has struggled to bounce back from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Google’s investment comes after Microsoft announced in May that it would create Thailand’s first data centre region to boost cloud and artificial intelligence infrastructure.
The government hopes investment from Google, Microsoft and their ilk will diversify and modernise the kingdom’s economy.
Thailand’s Office of the National Digital Economy and Society Commission has said the digital economy could contribute as much as 30 per cent of GDP by 2027.
Across the region, governments are vying for US tech dollars, with Vietnam making a drive to move up the value chain from its traditional base as a hub for producing shoes, clothes and furniture.
Vietnam hopes to cash in on 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 US$1.5 billion in the communist country.
